Fox Fire
by swirlheart
Summary: Naruto and his team are on a mission to help guard a prince. Strange and creepy things have been happening in his land. Could it be magic? Or something far darker? Maybe it has something to do with the Kitsune who have taken an interest in Naruto, who has now become one of them. Control your fox fire, Naruto! Please read and review. Nothing hurtful, thank you.
1. Chapter 1

**Fox Fire**

Summery: Naruto and his team are on a mission to help guard a prince. Strange and creepy things have been happening in his land. Could it be magic? Maybe it has something to do with the Kitsune who have taken an interest in Naruto, who has now become one of them. Control your fox fire, Naruto! R&R plz

Naruto and its characters belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a fanfiction. I make no profit. This was just written for fun. The only thing I own is my imagination and the OCs that appear. Like the foxes.

 **Chapter 1:**

Naruto's latest mission takes him and his friends to a land he had never seen before. It took several days to get there. Along the way, he complained about how long it was taking and pressured his team to move faster. Otherwise he complained about how bored he was getting. If only Lee had come along. At least then he could have had a sparring partner and someone he could talk to who didn't give him strange looks when he asked certain things. Maybe it was because he and Lee were actually pretty similar. They made training out of nearly anything. Sometimes without realizing it. Naruto did it for fun and to pass the time. Lee did certain things because he thought it would make him stronger.

Sadly, Lee was on a mission with Gai and couldn't come along. Naruto was disappointed. He couldn't convince Sai to do these things. Whenever he asked, Sai would give him an odd look and ask why. Sometimes he acted curious which gave Naruto hope, but Sai was different. Even if he gave it a try, it just wasn't the same. It was more fun with someone else. Someone who didn't question so much.

Sakura would refuse no matter what he suggested and threatened to clobber him if he tried to force it upon her. Or if he brought it up more than twice. Sakura said she wouldn't degrade herself by doing something so stupid.

Neji was the same way. He always refused and called it foolish. He was always criticizing Naruto and Lee for doing such childish and unnecessary things. He would give them similar looks of disapproval and ignore them, no longer willing to voice how much he detested the subject.

Guess who he was blessed with on this mission. The three people he liked but had no idea how to have fun on missions.

Soon he would have something else to focus his attention on other than games to pass the time. They were about to reach the town. Now he was excited. He couldn't wait to get to the village. He ran ahead of the group, trying to catch a glimpse of their destination.

"Don't run. We'll get there," said Neji.

"It's about time we got there!" Naruto exclaimed. "How many days have we been walking? I can't wait!"

He got to the top of the hill and looked out at the massive stretch of land before him. It truly did look like a kingdom. There were so many buildings nestled in the middle of the land, large patches of green grass and a large forest located just beyond the buildings. The forest wrapped around several hills and a large pile of stone Naruto was sure was a small mountain. Cascading down its center was a narrow waterfall which disappeared into the trees below. It was a wonderful sight. Naruto started to picture himself diving over the edge and into a large pool of water at the bottom. That would have been fun.

"Ah, look at that place." Sakura was standing beside him looking at something else.

Opposite the waterfall was another hill which led away from the other buildings. Perched on that grassy hill was a large palace. It was so clean and bright, it stood out among everything else. It looked like a castle. Naruto couldn't see all of it because it was surrounded by large white walls.

"So there's a prince in there, right?" Naruto asked.

"That's who called for our help," said Sakura.

Naruto folded his arms. "I really hope this guy isn't a brat. It seems like every mission we get involving a princess or any kind of royalty, there's always a rude little brat who makes everything a huge pain in the butt."

"Let's give him the benefit of the doubt."

"I really hope this guy isn't a jerk."

Naruto and Sakura walked side by side as they entered the town. Outside the village, the shrubbery was unkempt and the grass was so tall it covered Naruto's legs. Sakura walked on the trail but Naruto veered off to look at something. It was a sign which welcomed travelers to the town. The wooden sign simply read: Ayahuasca.

As Naruto moved away, his foot knocked against something hard. He jumped back, elevating his throbbing toe. Something wooden was hidden in the tall grass. Naruto bent down, parting the grass with his hands. It looked like a wooden box. As he got closer, he realized the box contained a stone fox. This must have been a shrine. The fox sat under the wooden roof, eyes fixed straight ahead. Its posture gave it a serious and lonely look. Since this statue was all alone, Naruto couldn't blame it for looking lonely.

"Naruto, don't fall behind," Neji warned.

"Coming!" He abandoned the wooden shrine and followed after his friends.

The town seemed friendly enough. Children were laughing and playing, adults were talking and everyone seemed to be content with their lives. However, there was an older man who glared at them as they passed. When Naruto stared back, the man went into his home and shut the door. Naruto wanted to make a face at him but behind closed doors defeated the purpose.

As they got closer to the white walls, Naruto became more aware of the people watching them. Particularly the children. They pointed and gawked at the passing ninja with awed expressions. He overheard one of the children call him 'cool' which inspired him to puff out his chest with pride. Maybe showing them a jutsu or two would impress them. Just as he was preparing a hand-sign, he heard Sakura call to him.

"Naruto!"

"Coming! Coming!" Naruto ran to catch up. He would have to show off later.

Now that they were standing right in front of the walls, Naruto saw just how big they truly were. These walls were at least three times his size. He could barely see the tops of the trees poking out from over the walls. The hill wasn't very steep. The problem were the closed gates blocking their path. Naruto tried to push them open but he got a hard whack on the hand when he tried.

"Ow! Hey!"

Two guards stood on either side of the gate, wooden spears in their hands. As if the gate weren't protective enough. When Naruto tried to get around them, they shoved him back.

"Hey! I-"

Neji, as the team leader, interjected. "Excuse us. We're ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. Your prince asked for our assistance."

The guards exchanged looks. Then they nodded and parted. The gates opened, allowing them passage,

"Thank you."

Naruto gave the guard who whacked him a foul look before entering the property. The gates closed behind him.

The palace was so elegant. It shined like a precious jewel in the sunlight, making Naruto's eyes sting. The stone walkway leading up to the front steps were polished and absent of even a single blade of grass. The grounds were entirely green. The grass in the front yard was trimmed perfectly. The shrubbery was cut into perfect round spheres and crescent moons. There was a fountain in the yard to his right, sparkling water trickling down into a marble pool with tiny animals carved into its side. Hedges lined the walls, trimmed into perfect squares, making the walls look embroidered with green felt. As they got closer to the building itself, they noticed a lot more plants. There were flowers everywhere, of all colors and sizes. The air smelled so sweet.

Naruto inhaled the sweet aroma as he passed through the large stone pillars to the front door, feeling welcomed.

The front doors opened with a loud groan and their footsteps echoed off the high ceiling of the main entrance. It was so wide with a large curved staircase leading to the second level straight ahead. A servant came to greet them and promised to show them to the prince. They went up the stairs to the next level and to the left.

The second level was carpeted and furnished elegantly. Paintings lined the walls on either side. Naruto stared open-mouthed at some of the images. Some were landscapes, some where seasonal, some were of people horseback riding and some were of children playing on swings or in a garden. The others were portraits, every one of a different person. Some were women, some were men, some were old, some were young, some were in the middle. Some were of couples, dressed in fancy, expensive outfits. Some were of young children, posing, making them look serious and bored. One in particular stood out to Naruto. It was of a young man, a little older than he was. He was frozen in the portrait with a surprised look on his face, as if someone had just yelled an inch from his ear as he was wrapped up in concentration. He looked really uncomfortable.

"What are you doing? Come on."

Naruto looked away from the painting and noticed that the rest of his team was walking into another room. Not wanting to be left behind, he jogged over to them and went into the next room.

This room was large, too. There were several small tables with potted plants on them resting against the walls. Large pillars lined either side, supporting a domed ceiling with a skylight. Naruto could see birds flying overhead through the glass. There were a couple of wooden benches along the walls as well in front of narrow stain-glass windows. Their footsteps didn't echo in this room thanks to the carpet leading up to a short flight of white steps. The servant prevented them from going up these stairs and told them to stay put. Naruto knew why. This was the throne room. At the top of those stairs was the prince.

Sure enough, there he was, sitting on his throne. His perch looked very comfortable, covered in pillows and silks. The back of his throne stretched halfway up the wall behind him. The prince was nearly three times smaller than the seat of this throne. Obviously, it was made for someone with a much wider girth. The prince himself was thin and young. He had dark brown hair and peach colored skin. His eyes were a chocolate brown. He was dressed in fine clothing and wore nothing on his feet except for a gold anklet.

As a matter of fact, he looked just like the boy in the painting Naruto had just seen in the hallway. However, this version didn't looked surprised at all. He looked kind and gentle. A boy content with his comfortable life and enjoyed his power as a prince. And a good-looking one at that.

"So," he said to the group. "What are your names, ninja of the Hidden Leaf?" He spoke with authority but it was clear that he was just a boy. Naruto was thankful that he didn't sound arrogant. At least not yet.

The ninja all bowed and introduced themselves.

"I am Neji Hyuga, Young Lord. I am the leader of this group."

"You can call me Sai, sir."

"I'm Sakura Haruno. It's an honor."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

The prince smiled at them kindly. "I am Prince Akio. I'm glad you've come." The prince seemed to be saying this to only one of the members of the group. His eyes were focused on the person beside Naruto.

"Prince Akio," said Neji. "Could you please tell us what you expect us to do for you on this mission? I understand you've been having some problems in your land."

Akio nodded. "Of course. I'll be happy to explain in further detail. But first things first. You must be tired from your long travel. Please join me for a meal. I must give you a proper welcome."

He had glanced at Neji only for a moment to say this then his gaze traveled back to the person he had been staring at.

"That is a great honor. Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," added Naruto.

"Thank you very much," said Sakura.

The prince's smile spread and he left his throne. He stepped down the stairs and over to the ninja. He stopped in front of Sakura and bent down. She was still kneeling on the ground so he had to do this in order to be at her level. As he bent down, he continued to stare at her and his smile deepened.

"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked him.

The prince smiled so wide, he showed all his teeth. "You are lovely."

"What?"

"What?" Naruto turned his head.

The prince went on. "Yes. I don't mean to be so bold, but you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."

Sakura's cheeks turned the same color as her hair. "Really? Well, thank you so much!"

Sai looked Sakura up and down. "He must have never left this castle to say that." The next second he was double over in pain after Sakura gave him a quick punch to the stomach.

The prince didn't seem to notice. "So you are a ninja as well? Doubtful. I'm certain you have skills but I have to wonder how someone so lovely can do such dangerous work and still look so refined. You have not a single scar on your body as far as I can tell."

Sakura blushed even harder. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"A ninja's job is so demanding and dirty. Why would you throw yourself into the muck and risk your life? You deserve so much more. A rare beauty such as yourself should be protected and preserved. Such risky chances... to lose something so precious."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the prince. Was he hitting on Sakura? In front of him? From the look of things, she seemed to enjoy it. Naruto couldn't help but feel jealous. Even threatened.

Neji cleared his throat loudly and the prince stopped.

"Please, join me in my dining hall. I've prepared a dinner in your honor."

* * *

Dinner was fantastic. The food was perfectly cooked and there were some dishes Naruto had never eaten before. The meal was held at a long polished table and the dishes were brought to them by bowing servants. Naruto and the rest of the boys got to sit on plush cushions and were given sleek wooden chopsticks to eat with. The ice water Naruto was given to drink could be felt going all the way down, freezing his throat and chest. Everything was great.

Expect for a few things. Things Naruto couldn't help but notice and complain about.

Sakura was given several cushions to sit on. She had a nice little pile of plush cushions and they looked to be a little more expensive than theirs. Her chopsticks were different, too. Hers were made of gold which weighed heavily in her hands. Her portion of rice was also larger than theirs. She was also given the best of the food before anyone else except for the prince. She was given both ice water and hot tea with her meal. To top it all off, she sat closest to the prince who sat at the head of the table.

Naruto kept giving him dirty looks throughout the meal. "Why does she get all that stuff and the best of everything?"

"If the prince has taken a liking to her, it's only natural for him to try to impress her," noted Sai.

That only made Naruto even more upset.

Akio asked Sakura a few things about herself and her training as a ninja. She answered all his questions and blushed at his complements and flattery. Naruto started to grind his teeth.

"I see. So you're a medic. Fascinating. You truly are skilled." The prince turned back to the rest of the group. "Alright. I supposed I've learned enough about my guests for us to get down to business."

"Just one guest..." Naruto muttered under his breath.

Neji took over the conversation from there. "Please tell us what you expect us to do. What seems to be the problem in this village? At first glance, everything seems to be quite normal."

Akio nodded. "Yes. I try not to alarm my people. Most of the issues we've been having are kept quiet from them. They don't need to get stressed out. One of the issues and the main reason I called for your assistance is because I've been getting threats and don't know who from."

"What sort of threats?"

"Oh, people saying they want to kill me and take my crown and hurt my people. The usual. It's common for a prince to get such threats. But we've also been having other problems as well. Some people in town have been reporting about strange things happening in the village. Nothing really dangerous. Things go missing in the middle of the night and are found the next morning in a different place. I think it's just pranks. Children, you know? Food has also gone missing at night, but that I believe are the animals that come down from the mountain at night and tear up the crops. Hardly anything I would worry about. There have been a few minor things but nothing I'm too worried about. I'm not sure if it's related or not but so far these things seem pretty harmless."

"We'll take everything into consideration. Is there anything else we should know?"

"Not that's worth mentioning. I'll let you know if I think of anything else."

"Thank you. Prince Akio, if I could ask, would it be possible for us to have a tour of your mansion and the property? It would make it easier for us if we have good placement of everything."

"Of course. I understand. I can give you a proper tour in the morning. As of now, I'll give you the basics."

"That will be fine. Thank you."

The prince began to gesture around the room. "There aren't many ways out of this building. The main gate which you just came from is the best and most direct way in and out of the mansion. So is the main door that leads into the foyer. Several hallways connect to the foyer, many of which are only used by the servants. My dwellings are mostly here on the second floor. The main stairs you used are the most direct way to this floor. There is a door leading to the back garden which is located on the other side of the mansion. This building is very big. It will take a while which is why I suggest I give you the full tour tomorrow. Until then, those are the main ways in and out of the building. One door in the back leading to the garden and the main doors up front. The servants will help you with anything else you may need. They'll show you to the washrooms and to your beds."

Naruto liked that idea very much. It sounded like he would have his own bed tonight and not have to camp again. A bath sounded pretty good, too.

"They'll help you with anything you may need. I'll be in my wing this evening. I am to be undisturbed during evening hours. Since I have so much work to do during the day, the night is the only time I have to rest and not be bothered and wish for it to remain that way. Not even the servants are allowed into my chamber at night. That rule was put in place for a reason. However, you are free to wander the rest of my mansion as you like."

"Are you guarded at night?" Neji asked.

The prince chuckled. "Oh, you needn't worry about that. I have plenty of guards to watch over the mansion around the clock. There are even ones pacing the hall outside my chamber to make sure no one enters or leaves. So tonight you should have a good rest. We are well protected."

"Then why are we needed if you are so well protected?" asked Sai. It was a legitimate question.

"Because the servants are worried about me and we all would like answers. So far no one has attacked me directly, but we have had threats and disturbances near the gate or on the grounds. We don't know who may be doing this, which is the main reason we asked for your assistance. We want answers and for there to be a stop to it."

"I see." Neji sat back, thinking. "Since you have so many guards, I'm not sure if we should keep watch ourselves on the off chance of them missing something. So far, it sounds like all we're being asked to do is wait around until something happens then act. Once it's inside."

"So far. At least until it gets worse." The prince made a gesture and the servants returned and collected their empty plates. "There will be more details in the morning. I have some work to do before I retire. Please, make use of the staff. The bath is being prepared as we speak. I've already had the servants prepare the rooms for you. Please enjoy yourselves for the time being. If you'll excuse me..."

The servants stopped what they were doing to bow to him as he stood up from the table. As the prince started to leave, he stopped for a moment to look at Sakura and smiled.

"I hope you enjoyed your meal, Miss Sakura."

She nodded with a smile. "Yes, it was wonderful. Thank you."

He gave her a pleased smile and left the room, followed by two servants.

Naruto gripped his chopstick so tightly, they snapped in two.

Sakura shot him a look. "What's your problem?"

"My problem?! Where does he get off saying that stuff to you?"

"Naruto, he was just being nice."

"Nice my butt! He was all over you!"

Sai gave his head a small nod. "I did read once that a man will go out of his way to please a woman if he has romantic feelings for her."

"He isn't going out of his way," said Neji. "His servants are the ones doing it."

"Only because he ordered then to do so. It is on his command. The book said that men will do strange things and flatter the woman in an attempt to court her. It has a whole list of things. Buying her dinner is one. Gifts is another."

"She got special treatment!" Naruto screamed. "You saw how she had the best of everything during that meal!"

"I did say that if he was trying to impress her by doing these things, it must mean that he has an interest in her. And by interest I mean a romantic one."

"Not helping!"

Sakura put her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you're jealous, Naruto."

"I'm not jealous! Now way!"

"Judging from your actions, you must be. Or you're angry with yourself by not making the first move and therefore failing to win her over in the first place."

"Really not helping, Sai."

"That's what the book said."

Neji took over from there. "Naruto, you're reading too much into this."

"Am I?"

"He only asked her how the meal was. If he's a prince, he must have been taught how to behave in certain situations, which includes how to speak to a woman. Usually, princes are taught to treat women with respect and in different ways, such as doing things for them first. A woman would be served first and be given the best food from the table. Ninja or not, she is still a woman to him therefore he would treat her a certain way."

"Yeah! He's a pervert!"

"He was just being nice and chivalrous," said Sakura.

"He called you beautiful!"

"That doesn't make him a pervert!"

"That's right," said Sai. "It just makes him a liar."

Sakura threw a plate at his head.

Then she turned her attention back to Naruto. "What are you so worried about? He's acting like a prince. He is a prince so all of this is fine. Just be happy we didn't get a bratty noble for once." Sakura then stormed out of the room, fuming.

The other servants looked at each other without a word. Neji had to wonder what the servants thought of them at this point.

* * *

Not bad for a start, right? Don't worry. This picks up fast.

Something very interesting happens in the next chapter... Ooh!

Please review! Thank you ^-^


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

As the sun began its decent in the sky, the ninja were shown to the washroom. There was more than one. According to the servants many of the washrooms were for the staff only. Some were in better condition than others. The boys were taken to a large one the male staff used while Sakura, as the only girl, was taken to a different one by one of the maids.

This washroom was as big as the bathhouse in the Leaf Village. There was even a huge tub for soaking. Naruto and the others got washed up and talked about the mission thus far.

"That prince is a jerk, flirting with Sakura like that."

"We told you he was just being a gentleman. Will you drop it?"

"I have my suspicions of the prince for another matter," said Sai.

"I agree," said Neji. "If he hired us for a mission, he's being pretty vague about it. Then again, he's a busy guy and said he would tell us more about it in the morning. I suppose we can let it slide one night. I'm sure he has his reasons. At least we got the bare minimum of the layout of this place. Plus, I'm glad he's being so hospitable."

"Yeah," scoffed Naruto. "To some more than others."

"Let's just try to find out what we can, ok? We can ask the staff a few things."

After their bath, the boys ran into Sakura on the second floor. She was wrapped in a fluffy pink robe and smelled like sweet flowers and melon.

"What took you so long?" asked Naruto. Sakura was bathing by herself so Naruto figured she would be done before the rest of them.

"Oh. Well..." Sakura turned her head as if embarrassed. "I couldn't decide from all the different soaps he had. It was like a spa in there. There was even a servant girl in there who offered to wash my back for me. And my hair."

Naruto frowned. "We didn't get that."

"Oh. Oh, well."

Naruto frowned even harder. "What? What else?"

"Nothing else. I just took a bath, that's all."

"Where?"

She bit her lip. "In the royal bath."

"The what?"

"It's the washroom used by members of the royal family," said one of the servants.

"I knew it!" Yes, Naruto was a bit jealous. She was being treated better.

"It's not a big deal, Naruto!"

The servant nodded. "It's true. She did not use the prince's private washroom. That's in his wing. And since he is the last living member of the family, that washroom is rarely ever used. Now, please follow me to your rooms."

The servant took them down another carpeted hallway with more paintings and works of art. This floor had sculptures and busts on wooden tables or mounted on the walls. The paintings seemed to be watching Naruto as he walked down the hall. The eyes followed him wherever he went. It gave him an uneasy feeling. Some of the sculptures did the same. Some of them were not natural poses and it looked like the creature trapped in stone was contorted in pain.

"Excuse me," said Neji. He was speaking to the servant. "Is there a reason why no one is allowed in the prince's wing?"

"Oh, only during evening hours when he's asleep. It's for that reason we are not allowed up there. He's a light sleeper. We do have guards up there, however. Not in his room, though."

"And that's normal?"

"Yes. The prince is so busy all day long. He's still young. He's only nineteen. He needs his rest so he can function. We all understand that. Besides, his parents were the ones who gave him such strict rules to follow. He had to be in bed at certain times and had to get enough sleep, always."

"Does he also put off work?" asked Sai. "Like asking us to wait until morning for further details about our mission?"

"He's a teenager." The servant laughed at her own joke. "But I'm sure it's because he's tired. He had a hard day today. He wasn't sure when you would be coming. It also may be force of habit as well. But if you are asking if he is behaving strangely, not at all. He's always been like this. If you think it's odd, assume it's nerves. He's never asked for a ninja's help before. This is new for him."

"I see."

The servant stopped and pointed. "These are your rooms. You each get your own. Your belongings have already been delivered."

"Thank you."

Naruto watched Sakura open the door to hers and quickly pushed her out of the way to look inside. "Naruto!"

Her room was spacious. At first glance, it looked like her bed was on the ground. Then he realized it was actually built into the floor, which was lower than the rest of the floor. It was a sunken bed. Just like a sunken living room. Her bed had several pillows and blankets and even a stuff teddy bear to keep her company. She had a desk in her room, too. A wardrobe, a trunk and a huge window with a view of the side yard and its small garden. Despite being on the second floor, the grass reached her window. This part of the mansion must have been perched on the hill. She had a lovely view. Naruto couldn't help but notice something else. A floral kimono was waiting for her on the foot of her bed with a rose, freshly plucked from the garden.

Sakura kicked him out of her way. "Do you mind?"

Naruto sulked all the way back to his room, two doors down. "Can't wait to see my room. I knew hers would be awesome."

"Good night, guys." Sakura went into her room for the night. Mostly to get away from Naruto. He was getting on her last nerve.

Naruto opened his door and peered inside. His belongings had been delivered and were sitting beside a bed in the middle of the floor. It wasn't a sunken bedroom like Sakura's. It was just a mattress on the floor. He had one pillow and one blanket. His view was obscured by the tree outside his window. He did had a wardrobe, however, but no desk and no trunk. No rose or stuffed animals either. Naruto sighed. At least it was a bed. He still thought Sakura was getting far better treatment, however.

"Naruto." Neji was at his door. "At breakfast tomorrow we'll continue where we left off. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Please stick to the mission. I don't want to hear anymore about how much Sakura is getting or how much better it is."

"I got it."

"Good. See you at breakfast. Good night."

"Good night." Naruto closed the door and went over to his bed. "Well..." he said as he got changed into his night clothes. "It could be worse."

* * *

Despite his long travels, Naruto was having a very restless night. He couldn't get to sleep. His bed was comfortable enough. He was just having restless thoughts. He still found it unfair how Sakura was being treated so differently from the rest of them. He didn't like this prince very much. At least he wasn't a selfish brat. Sakura had a point there. The palace itself seemed a little eerie as well, the way the paintings' eyes followed him around the halls. There was no artwork in his room so those weren't keeping him up.

Every time Naruto thought he had fallen asleep, his eyes would open and he would find himself back in his borrowed bedroom. He pulled the blanket over his head and tried to block out his thoughts.

Something outside his window rattled.

He threw off the blanket and looked at the window. It was locked up tight. It seemed like a still night. Then he heard it again. He jumped out of bed and went over to the window and looked outside. There was nothing there.

There was a bump behind him. He turned. He saw nothing but he heard creaking.

Naruto didn't want to be in this room alone. His uneasiness drove him into the hallway. The hallway was dark. He looked to his right. Sakura's room was in that direction. As he moved to knock on her door, he thought better about it and decided not to disturb her. He didn't want to deal with anymore of her lectures or risk getting punched in the face. She might have thought he was a peeping tom.

He then looked to his left. Neji and Sai's rooms were right beside his. Maybe they were doing something. Naruto went to the room right beside his.

Neji was in his bed, his back facing the door. Naruto crawled on his hands and knees over to his bed and touched his shoulder. "Neji? Neji?"

"What do you want?" he hissed.

"I heard a noise."

"Congratulations."

"Did you hear it, too?"

"I'm asleep!" Neji turned away.

Naruto sat back with a pout. "Did you make that sound?"

"How should I know if I was asleep?"

"I was just asking. I wonder what that was..? Maybe an enemy..?"

"Naruto," Neji sighed, getting annoyed. "We're in a palace, which is very big with a lot of people. Don't you think maybe it was one of the servants walking around?"

Naruto gave it some thought. "I guess so."

"Why do you always run to me in the middle of the night?"

"You were closest and you're team leader. I figured..."

Neji turned to look at him. "I just gave a peek around the building. There is no one here who shouldn't be. Go back to bed."

"Are you sure? We didn't meet everyone in the staff."

"We're fine. Go back to bed."

"What if I hear the noise again?"

"Are you a ninja or not? Go investigate for yourself and leave me alone. Now go to bed." Neji turned away and hid under his pillow.

Naruto frowned. "Fine." Naruto went back to his room and left Neji alone. "Didn't have to be so grumpy about it."

He tried going back to sleep but once again it eluded him. He lay in bed for what seemed like hours. He kept his eyes shut. More than once he thought he had finally gotten to sleep then he would find himself back in his room. This was going to be a long night.

Another noise caught his attention and he opened his eyes. It was a shuffling sound. He got out of bed. If this was an enemy, he was going to handle this himself. He took a kunai from his bag and crept to the window.

Something moved.

He opened the window and closed it behind himself, leaving it unlocked. He could handle this himself. He had all the back-up he needed in clone form. There was no need to wake the others if this turned out to be nothing.

He moved carefully around the tree and pounced, hoping to surprise whatever it was. He saw a shadow move swiftly to the right, lightly brush the front of his chest and run off. It was big whatever it was. Naruto chased after it. He saw it turn its head and saw two bight yellow eyes gleaming at him in the dark. As quickly as saw them, they disappeared and he saw the shadow move down the steep hill. Naruto was not about to let it get away. He ran after it as fast as he could. Even when he lost sight of it, he kept running.

He made it all the way to the front gate of the palace. There was nothing there. The large fountain trickled softly, the water shimmering in the moonlight. He walked carefully across the yard and over to the front gate. The guards were missing. Suspicious, Naruto approached. The gate was locked up tight. He couldn't get them to budge no matter how hard he tugged and pulled.

A shadow moved beyond the gate at the bottom of the hill and fled.

Naruto frowned. He had to follow it. He scaled the white wall and jumped to the other side. He landed in the grass and ran down the hill into the town. Everything was dark and quiet. Everyone was safe in their beds. But something was moving.

The shadow appeared again, moving quickly. Another shadow joined it. There was more than one. He ran after them. A third shadow joined them and they ran as one through the street. Naruto followed quickly but silently. The moving shadows took him down another street and through to the next. Then they fled the village and into the woods. Naruto followed close behind.

The trees were so thick. This was a dense forest. It was easier to use the trees than run on the ground. When the trees began to thin out, he dropped to the ground and went on foot. Deeper and deeper he ventured. The town was far away by now.

His footsteps slowed, hearing something. Voices. At least three. Naruto crept through the forest, keeping close to the tree trunks.

"This is it?"

"It's all we could manage."

"That's it?"

"This is hardly enough."

"Then you go try!"

"Calm down. This is fine."

"No, it's not."

"We can always go back tomorrow night."

"Why not now?"

"There was a human out there."

"Were you followed?"

"I'm not sure. Humans never go into the woods at night. I doubt it."

Curious, Naruto peeked.

It was a gathering of foxes. Less than a dozen sat in the clearing, talking to each other. These foxes could speak. There was a strange blue light hovering over the group. It looked like a fireball. It wasn't attached to anything and simply hovered overhead.

"Who's there?"

Naruto flinched.

The foxes started to get to their feet and move away. Were they afraid of him? Naruto couldn't let them leave. He had to get answers. This was his best chance to find things out.

"It's ok," said Naruto. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then come out."

"Ok. Here I come." Naruto came out slowly and kept low to the ground. "See? Everything's ok. I mean no harm."

The foxes watched him carefully from where they stood, saying nothing. The fox who had ordered him to come out was sitting on a stump and didn't seem frightened of him at all. It was a male fox with green eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. I'm here on a mission."

Some of the foxes looked at each other in surprise. Even the green-eyed fox seemed curious.

"You can understand us? Aren't you surprised that we can talk?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not really. I've come across talking animals before. It's no big deal."

"I see."

A female fox spoke up next. "You said you were on a mission? What sort of mission? Are you here to skin us and make coats out of us? Are you a hunter?"

"What? No! I'm here on another mission."

"Then why do you have a knife in your hand?"

Naruto looked at the kunai he had been carrying. He had forgotten it was in his hand. "Sorry. Sorry." Naruto tossed it behind his back where it landed in a shrub. "See? All better. I was just carrying that because I thought you were a human enemy. That's all."

The foxes still looked like they didn't trust him.

"So..." Naruto started slowly. "You're foxes, huh?" He really wasn't sure what to say. He rocked on the balls of his feet, thinking about what he should say next. "Um... Were you guys just in the town? What were you doing there?"

"We were looking for food," said the fox with green eyes.

Naruto looked at the ground. There was a small pile of garbage in front of the green-eyed fox. An apple core, and ear of corn and some more scraps. "Oh. Are you guys really that hungry?"

The fox spoke again. "There are quite a few of us as you can see. We used to receive offerings from the humans but that has stopped some time ago."

"Why?"

"No one is certain."

Naruto looked at all the foxes watching him carefully. They all seemed very fit. They didn't look like they were starving. But they weren't overfed either. "So you got offerings from humans?"

"Yes. They used to leave us food. When they stopped, we started going into the town to get it ourselves."

"By digging through trash?"

The foxes didn't look very proud of that fact, nor did they seem to appreciate Naruto calling attention to it.

"Isn't there enough food out here for you guys?"

The lead fox sighed. "It's nice to have help sometimes. Hunting takes time and energy. We enjoyed getting the offerings. We're not sure why it stopped."

"So you raid the town and take their food in its place?"

The female fox spoke again. "We've always gotten offerings. If they stop, then it's only fair for us to go in and take it. Doesn't it make sense to you?"

"Not exactly."

The foxes started sniffing the air, eyeing him up and down. They started whispering. The green-eyed fox was smiling. "Well, it should."

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because you're half fox already."

Naruto blinked. "Huh?" What was he talking about? Did he mean the Nine-tailed fox inside of him? Was that what he was talking about? Did this fox know about the beast dwelling within?

The green-eyed fox seemed to read his thoughts and gestured to his own head with his paw, miming what he wanted Naruto to mimic.

Naruto reached up with both hands and felt the top of his head. Something soft brushed his thumbs. It wasn't his hair. They twitched. Ears. He had furry pointed ears. Naruto felt the sides of his face and cheeks. His face felt furry. He had a muzzle and a wet nose. He looked down at his hands which had now become a pair of furry black paws. Feeling his heart skip a beat, he turned in a circle to see behind him. He had a bushy tail wagging behind his back. A fluffy fox tail.

"I... I'm... I'm a... fox?" Naruto checked again. He certainly had fox appendages. Naruto's heart started racing. "I'm turning into a fox?"

The green-eyed fox came down from his perch to talk with him. "Don't panic. The changes are quick. You're not going to scream, are you?"

Once the shock had subsided, he was able to think more clearly. His mind didn't feel cloudy and his body wasn't heating up, nor was he in any pain. If this were something for him to worry about, these would be warning signs. Certain he wasn't in danger, he was able to conclude that this had nothing to do with the Nine-Tailed fox inside of him. Since the other foxes didn't seem too alarmed, this must have been nothing to panic about. Clearly, they knew what was going on. It was either this or the possibility that this was a dream; in which case, he should enjoy it.

Naruto shook his head. He was grinning in a very fox-like fashion. "No way. This is pretty cool."

"You're... not going to freak out?"

"Nah-uh." Naruto chased his tail, having fun. "I'm good with this. This is kind of fun."

"Huh." The fox seemed amazed. "I expected you to freak out. Most humans would."

"Not me. I'm actually kind of used to turning into different things. This isn't so bad." Naruto stopped spinning, realizing that something was amiss. Something else had changed. He was now eye to eye with the green-eyed fox. When he looked down, he realized he was now a complete fox, fur and everything. "Man, you weren't kidding when you said the change was quick."

The green-eyed fox looked overjoyed. "Well, well. Look here, everyone. We have another kitsune in our company."

Naruto's ears twitched. "Kitsune?"

"Yup. We're all kitsune. Every one of us."

So that's what they were and why he could understand them when they talked. They were fox spirits.

Naruto had never seen a group of kitsune before. He thought they would be different. He didn't have any expectations to be honest. Somehow, he thought they would be a little more intimidating. Although, he was still in awe, staring back at all the gawking fox faces. They all looked like red foxes except for the fact that they could speak and their facial expressions were closer to that of humans. Animal expressions tended to be more subtle.

"There's no way he can be one of us!"

Naruto turned his head. Some of the foxes were starting to argue.

"This must be some sort of trick."

"And a trick it is. You know how the two-tails can be. No doubt this is his doing."

Naruto was confused. He wanted answers himself. "Uh, hey. How is it I'm a fox anyway? What happened to me?"

The green-eyed fox turned. "Let me explain. You see, this is the work of someone in the town who's in hiding. He did this to you."

"So... like a magic spell?" Naruto cocked his head.

"More or less. It's a curse. All kitsune have an ability called curse inducement. You're the latest victim."

Naruto looked down at his paws. "So.. this is all some kitsune curse?"

"Yup. However, there's a rule about this curse." The fox came closer. "You can't tell anyone about it otherwise they'll receive the curse, too. So be very careful. Don't tell anyone about this. You don't want to curse them, too, do you?"

Naruto nodded. "Right. I got it. No telling." Naruto was only half paying attention. He was still admiring his new fox body.

"What's you're name again?" asked the fox.

"Huh? Oh. Naruto. My name's Naruto."

The green-eyed fox smile. "I'm Ryosuke. Nice to meet you." He gestured to the other foxes. "That's Sonar, Lunabell, Aurora, Sammi, Egao, Superu, Ishi, and Seki."

"Don't introduce us to him!" snapped Aurora. "I don't trust him. He shouldn't be treated like one of us. He's a human!"

"Not right now he isn't. He's a kitsune so that makes him one of us."

The others looked unsure but seemed to be leaning toward the side of acceptance.

"Besides, Naruto has asked us about ourselves. We should answer him. We'll show him how we live."

"Is that such a good idea?" asked Seki.

"I say it is."

The foxes backed down and accepted his answer. Ryosuke grinned in satisfaction.

Naruto felt he should say something but wasn't sure what. "Uh... can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"When we were called here, it was because the prince said he was being threatened. Were you the ones doing it?"

"No. We avoid humans unless we're pulling pranks on them. Which we only did before the offerings started. No, we stay away from the palace. They don't put their garbage out where we can get it."

"Ok." Naruto smiled happily. "That's that. So now what?"

Ryosuke grinned. "Want to see where we live? It's got a great view."

"Let's go!" Naruto was on all fours. This sounded like a lot of fun.

"Follow us!" Ryosuke took off running. The foxes followed after him. Naruto raced with the kitsune.

It was hard running on all fours. Actually, he felt faster on fours. The problem was all the grass and sticks that got in his face. Running this low to the ground was a pain. He somehow managed to keep up with the group. When they reached the edge of the forest, the foxes started climbing. Naruto stopped and watched. They were scaling up the side of the rocky mountain, leaping from one stone to the next. They made it look easy. Naruto felt confident. Climbing something like this was easy for a ninja. He tried climbing and slipped. He stood at the base of the mountain and watched everyone one else climb with ease. He couldn't get a good grip with these paws. He couldn't even stick to the stone using his chakra.

"What's wrong?" asked Ishi. He stopped on a rock to check on the newcomer.

"I'm having a hard time getting up there." Naruto gripped the rock in front of him with both paws while his hind legs kicked the dirt and sides of the stone. It almost looked like he was giving the rock a hug.

Ishi called to Ryosuke who perched on the rock above Naruto and watched him.

"Balance yourself on the rock," he said. "No, not like that. I mean... Hang on. Stop, stop. Put your front paws on the rock in front of you. Yeah, just like that. Now, use them as your ground. Know what I mean?"

Naruto nodded. He placed his paws on the rock, making sure they weren't going anywhere.

"Good. Now, use your hind legs to push off from the ground hard. Jump!"

Naruto pushed off the ground with his hind legs and onto the rock. He was off the ground. Naruto's face broke into an accomplished smile. "Hey!" He did it.

"Very good. Foxes are great jumpers. Just keep doing that. Once you pick up enough speed, jump from one rock to the other as fast as you can." Ryosuke climbed up the side of the mountain and waited for Naruto on one of the high rocks.

Naruto tried to do as he said and climbed up the rocks. It was hard to climb without thumbs or hands, or chakra. He had to learn a different way entirely. He was basically jumping from one rock to the other, keeping himself balanced with his front legs and using his back legs to jump. He slipped a few times but never fell. Once he reached Ryosuke, he took off to another high perch and waited for Naruto there. He was one of the few who waited for him. Finally he reached the top of the mountain and crawled onto the grass to catch his breath.

"No resting. Let's go."

Naruto hurried after the group. He could hear something getting louder and louder as he ran. It was the roar of the falls. They were near the waterfall Naruto had seen when they arrived. The fox group led him to a stream and stopped for a quick drink. Naruto bent down and gulped the water with his muzzle. Forgetting that his nose was at the end of his face, he snorted in some water as he drank and pulled away, coughing. He kept forgetting he was a fox now.

"Check it out, Naruto. What do you think?"

Naruto lifted his head. Ryosuke was standing by the stream looking out at the night sky. Naruto came to stand beside him.

It was gorgeous. They were standing on the top of the mountain right beside the falls. Naruto looked over the edge to see the water disappear into a cloud of mist below. The forest was an endless patch of dark green from where he stood. The houses on the other side of the forest looked so tiny. The sky was so big and the clouds stretched endlessly. From up here, he felt as if he were flying. At this height, it was almost as if he could reach out and touch the sky. He felt so powerful up here. Like he could rule the whole entire town and all the land surrounding it.

"So what do you think?"

Naruto took in a deep breath through the nose. The air was so cool and crisp. He could smell the waterfall beside him and the grass and the trees. Even the evening sky seemed to have a scent all its own. He was still suppressing the urge to jump from the cliff and into the sky. "This place is great!"

"I knew you'd like it."

"So you guys actually live here?" Naruto asked turning away from the sky.

Ryosuke nodded. "Everything you see here is ours. This whole mountain is our domain. This waterfall, those trees, these rocks. Everything is ours."

"Wow." Naruto looked back at the amazing view. He felt so powerful up here. Like a king.

"Do you have your fox legs yet?"

Naruto turned back. "Why?"

"Would you like to race?"

The other foxes looked excited. They wanted to race, too.

Naruto smiled brightly at them. "Sure! Oh, but can I do something real quick?"

"Like what?"

Naruto turned back to the sky, stood on the edge of the cliff and howled. The other foxes looked embarrassed at first, not expecting Naruto to do something so... well, childish. Then they had the same urge and howled with him. Maybe they didn't want him to feel left out. Naruto howled again and his voice echoed for a moment then got dragged into the roaring falls and trapped in its waters. "Narutooooo!"

The foxes laughed at him.

"What?" Naruto howled again. "I am Narutooooo..!"

"Ryooooosuke!" howled the green-eyed fox.

The foxes all laughed and howled their own names into the stars. Once they were finished, the race began.

They tore up the grass, racing from the stream to the rocky field that was the top of the mountain. Then down the steep rocky hill and into tall grass. Then down the mountain and the massive pile of stone. It was easier and even more terrifying going down the mountain. Naruto had to make sure not to miss a single step otherwise he would go tumbling down the rocks. Ryosuke told him to land on all fours when he went down, just to be sure he would be safe. He started to pick up speed again and a rock slipped from under his paws. Naruto surfed down the side of the mountain on the stone. He landed at the bottom and jumped off. He stumbled and bumped into a tree root.

"You ok?"

Naruto was laughing. "That was awesome! The wind in my fur! What a rush!"

The other foxes seemed to be warming up to him. They all came over to see how he was doing and joined in the laughter.

"Race through the trees?"

"You beat. Ready, set, go!"

Naruto was getting faster. He was lost in the crowd of foxes racing through the forest. He felt like he was one of them. He looked like a fox, he ran like a fox, now he was going to act like a fox. This was a blast! He never thought racing with foxes through the trees in the middle of the night could be so much fun. He was wide awake and ready to race all night. He was so full of energy. When he howled, the foxes howled with him. He tested his legs, seeing how far he could jump. He could almost make it to the tree branches.

"This is amazing!" Naruto cried, leaping through the air. He truly felt like he could fly.

"Liking this much?" asked Ishi.

"Loving it! Being a kitsune is the best!"

He laughed. "We think so!"

Naruto was gaining ground. He was going to win this race. All he had to do was catch up with Ryosuke who was leading the pack. No matter how hard he pushed himself, Ryosuke was always just out of reach. After a while, he no longer cared and just wanted to enjoy this race. Running felt great. Being a kitsune felt great.

* * *

Told you it would get interesting ^-^

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Neji was this close to fuming. Breakfast was half an hour ago and Naruto was nowhere to be found. They had agreed to meet for breakfast to discuss the mission. Neji stomped down the hall, marched straight up to Naruto's door and, without knocking, let himself in.

"Naruto!" The door opened with a clunk.

Naruto lay in his bed, back to the door. The blanket was covering his body except for his right arm and his head. Naruto was sleeping with his mouth wide open. Drool was soaking the pillow under his head. He didn't answer when his name was called. Neji knew he was alive because he could hear him snoring.

"Naruto!" Neji marched over to his bed and stood over him. Naruto wasn't budging. Neji's eye twitched. His temper was mounting. "Naruto!" He kicked Naruto's leg. "Wake up!"

"Nugh..!" Naruto grabbed the corner of the blanket and covered his head, curling into a ball.

"I said, wake up!" Neji grabbed the blanket and yanked it off Naruto's body. Naruto curled into a tighter ball, moaning. "And I mean now!"

Naruto's hand wandered for the blanket. It was so cold. Neji resisted the urge to stomp on his hand. Finally, Naruto responded. He opened his eyes and squinted up at Neji. "What?"

"I told you to get up some time ago."

Naruto turned over and stretched. "Uh-huh," he yawned.

"I'm not going to tell you again. Now get up."

Naruto flopped onto the bed, sprawled out like a starfish. "Why are you so grumpy?"

"Because you missed breakfast and the further details of our mission."

Naruto sat up. "I slept in? What time is it?"

"It's 10:30."

"Crap! I overslept!" Now Naruto was fully awake. "Why didn't you get me up?"

"I tried. You wouldn't leave your bed. No matter how many times I asked. You're lucky Sakura didn't come up here to get you. She was looking to deck you good." Neji dropped the blanket on the floor. "I opted to do it because I had a feeling if she was the one, she would put you to sleep for good."

Naruto shuddered at the thought. "Is there any food left?"

"No. Consider that your punishment."

Naruto was about to say something then stopped. He looked around the room and then down at his torso. He frowned in confusion.

"What is it?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing. It was a dream I had last night. That's all."

Neji turned away. "Hurry up. We're meeting downstairs. The prince is going to give us a tour of his palace."

Naruto scowled. "Did Sakura not come up here because you told her to or because she was too busy with the prince?"

Neji didn't answer. "Just hurry up." He closed the door as he left.

This was not going to be a good day. Naruto could see that already. He still harbored negative feelings toward the prince after seeing him take an interest in Sakura. He hoped she wouldn't fall for it. Then again, the guy was a prince. He had charm, good looks, he was rich and had so much power. If she would get involved with him, and they were to marry, that would make her a queen. How could she turn that down?

What did he have to offer? His hyperactivity? His constant saying things without thinking? His ramen collection? Naruto couldn't compare to a prince.

His thoughts then turned to the dream he had last night. It was so vivid. He truly believed he had run with foxes just last night. He could remember every detail so clearly. And those foxes. Ryosuke seemed so real. Everything seemed so real. He could swear it actually happened. Looking down at his human body and no fox tail made him realize that it was just a very vivid dream. But a good one at that. Maybe that was why he hadn't gotten up when Neji told him to. Maybe he was still stuck in a dream.

Naruto started to get undressed and into his regular clothes when something stopped him. It was his feet. They were covered in dirt. He even had flakes of dirt in his bed. Even dirty footprints on the white sheets. No, those were hand-prints. Naruto looked down at his hands. They, too, were covered in dirt.

Why was there dirt in his bed? Why were his hands and feet covered in dirt?

Unless...

"It wasn't a dream."

Naruto gasped. It really happened. He had turned into a fox that night. He really did run with foxes to the waterfall and down the mountain. It all happened.

He was so excited. He wanted to tell the others. Then he stopped, remembering what Ryosuke had said. If he spoke about the curse, if he told it to anyone, they would get cursed as well. He couldn't do that to his friends. He had to keep this to himself. Even though he didn't think being a fox was that bad, they might not appreciate it as much as he did. This would have to be his little secret.

* * *

It was time for a tour of the palace. The prince took them up and down the halls, showing them every room. He showed them a lounge area with many cushioned chairs and love seats. More paintings hung in there. The library was even bigger than the lounge. Books were packed into shelves reaching the ceiling, which was rather large considering the library had two floors. A spiral metal staircase was in the corner which took them to the next level, complete with loft. There were polished wooden tables in the middle of the room and couches along the walls. Naruto wasn't very interested in this room very much. There was something called a morning room which the prince took them to next. It looked like a greenhouse in Naruto's opinion. There were plants lining the walls and the room was domed with an elaborate skylight. The room itself was round and there was only one window but it wrapped around the entire room so they would see the garden and the landscape just beyond the white walls. It really was beautiful. A single table sat in the center of the room with two chairs. The prince said he often came up here alone to eat his morning meals or have his tea. As he said that, he gave Sakura a longing look and Naruto just about threw a fit.

They went outside next to another part of the garden which no one could see or get to except from a single door located inside the mansion. It took them to a garden which was surrounded by a koi pond. The large fish jumped from the water the moment they arrived, splashing them as if in welcome. A pavilion sat on the pond perched on its own grassy island. Its warm polished wood shone as if it had just been dipped in honey and the light blue roof looked as if it were a piece of the sky. The trees that grew here were smaller and thinner than the ones growing on the rest of the property, which gave more focus on the flowers and the pond. Everything in this garden was growing strong and healthy.

"It's beautiful," said Sakura. She was staring wide-eyed at the garden in awe.

"It's my private garden," said the prince. He seemed to be quite proud of it. "There's only one way into this area and it's through the door I just showed you. It's one of my favorite places to go." Akio moved closer to Sakura. "I thought it was the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on until I saw you."

Sakura turned to the prince, blushing. She was so flattered she was speechless.

Naruto did the talking for her. He forced himself between them and shoved them apart. "Break it up, you two! Stop saying those things, you pervert!"

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped. "Don't speak to him like that!"

"He's was practically mauling you!"

"He was not!"

"He got closer! If I didn't step in, he could have-"

"I was just being friendly," said Akio. "I'm sorry if I offended her in any way."

Naruto snarled. "Why is it always about her? You're pissing me off, too, you know!"

Akio ignored him and gave Sakura a sad look. "I've very sorry if I upset you. Please forgive me."

"No, no!" she shook her head. "I'm not offended at all. Don't worry about it. You don't have to be sorry for anything."

"Yes, he does!"

Neji slapped Naruto in the back of the head.

The door opened behind them and a servant bowed. "Prince Akio. We need you, my lord. There is a matter you must see to at once."

"I'm on my way." Akio turned back to the ninja. "If you'll please excuse me." He hurried inside and went with the servant. The door was left open as a hint for the ninja to leave the garden as soon as possible.

Sakura punched Naruto in the back of his head. "You idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me? It was the prince who-"

"Where do you get off speaking to him like that? He's a prince! You don't talk to a prince like that!"

"But he was trying to put the moves on you!"

"He was not!"

"I saw the whole thing!" Naruto folded his arms, convinced he had done nothing wrong. Every action he took was justified. "He would have kiss you, too, if I hadn't come along to save you."

Sakura punched him again. "What makes you think I need to be saved?!"

Sai titled his head, trying to read the situation. "I got it." Sai snapped his fingers. "So I was right. Naruto is jealous of the prince."

"I am not!"

"You're not? Your actions say you are. Either you're denying it or I'm misinterpreting."

"He's denying it," said Neji.

"I am not jealous! The guy's a perv!"

"He is not! He's a prince!" Sakura shoved Naruto out of her way. "Really! At least he knows how to be a gentleman!"

Naruto folded his arms again. "I'm not jealous."

* * *

Evening was approaching quickly. The ninja were treated to a lovely dinner before sunset in the dining hall. For the entire afternoon, they saw very little of the prince as he busied himself with his royal duties. He barely had time for the tour of his palace. Now he was able to share a meal with them and chat. At least until he had to retire for the night.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more of a host to you. I'm very busy."

"It's alright. We took a look around the grounds and the servants answered a few of our questions. After that we went into town and took a look around there."

It was true. Neji said they should interview the people in town to see if anyone had any ill will toward the prince. So far that was not the case. As a matter of fact, everyone loved the prince and thought he was doing a great job. He made sure they had enough food, taxes were down and he always seemed like such a kind young man. In fact, every year, the prince allowed the common folk into his mansion for a party. It was a grand celebration with plenty of music and dancing and more food than they knew what to do with. No one in town seemed to have any problem with him at all and couldn't understand why he would receive threats from anyone. He was a kind man beloved by all who knew him.

The servants had very little negative things to say about him. For many of the servants, it was his family who took them in when they had nowhere else to go. They were given a permanent home in the palace and got to live there for free. They were even allowed to eat all their meals for free. They were given a salary but because so much was provided for them, they didn't know what to spend it on. They were given time off when needed and physical punishment was never used. They loved the royal family. Everyone was devastated when the king and queen passed away a few years back. Luckily they had raised the prince up right and he carried on the family duties and treated the servants just as his parents had before him. Nothing had really changed. The prince was very kind and understanding. They could find very little fault with him and how he ran things.

"Do you have any enemies outside the area? Someone who would want to do harm to you or your people?"

"No. I've never been out of the area. As long as I've lived, I've never been off this land."

One of the servants nodded. "It's true. Prince Akio has never left. He does not travel. He is always here."

"Did the king and queen travel? Maybe they made some enemies."

"Doubtful. The king and queen got along very well with almost everyone. I don't see how anyone would want to hurt them or the family."

Naruto poked at his green chives. "Yeah..." he mumbled bitterly. "Don't see that happening..."

"I'm sorry for saying this," said Neji, "but there doesn't seem to be any urgency. We were called here to do a mission and so far everything seems fine. I'm a bit confused."

"So far no one has acted against the prince," said a servant. "However, these threats left us feeling concerned. And some of the people in town said they were seeing some strange things happening and we thought it could be related."

"We'll have to do more investigating tomorrow. Today we just asked if anyone would want to hurt the royal family. We didn't ask anything further. I think we should do that in the morning."

Prince Akio smiled sympathetically from the head of the table. "This must be a very boring mission for you. My servants convinced me to call for your help thinking my life was in danger."

"But it might be. What if something happens to you when the ninja aren't here?"

"I'm sure they have better things to do than protect me."

"Our mission is to protect you," said Sakura. "Nothing is more important to us than that at the moment."

The prince gave Sakura a smile. "You are very kind. I can tell you must have a very kind and generous heart. But I'm sure people tell you that all the time."

Naruto slurped his soup nosily, glaring daggers at the prince.

"Is something the matter, Naruto?" asked the prince.

Naruto's response bubbled in the broth. He lowered the bowl and continued to glare at the prince. Sakura glared back at him, as if daring him to give her a reason to punch him. He looked away. Sakura must have still been in a bad mood.

"If the food is not to your liking, I can ask the cooks to prepare something else for tomorrow's dinner. Do you have any requests?"

Naruto didn't answer. He was keeping an eye on the prince's hand, which was mere inches from Sakura's. Unable to stand it anymore, Naruto stood up from the table. "I have to use the bathroom."

Naruto felt everyone's eyes upon him as he left the dining hall. His footsteps echoed off the shining walls and the large doors groaned shut behind him. The prince was right about one thing. This mission was very boring. He almost wished for enemies to attack right now just so be could unleash this pent up rage boiling inside of him.

He went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water in hopes of getting his blood to cool down. "Who does that prince think he is? He's hitting on her. Can't she see that? What a jerk!"

Naruto marched back and forth on the tiled floor, fuming. He was so pissed off he wanted to punch the prince right in the face. He didn't like the way he looked at Sakura. He hated how he was flirting with her.

"She's eating it up, isn't she? Sakura's loving this! How could she like the guy? Take away the fact that he's a prince with more money than he knows what to do with, the palace and power, and what does he have? Just his good looks and his charm..." Naruto sighed. "Maybe I am jealous... What if she actually likes the guy?"

He stopped pacing the floor. Maybe he was over-thinking this. There was no way Sakura would be interested. Even if she was, it would never work.

"What am I getting so worked up about? I've got to put it out of my mind."

Suddenly, Naruto lost his balance and dropped to his knees. He was on all fours. He looked down and saw paws. His paws. He spun around and saw a bushy fox tail. He was covered in fur! He was a fox!

"It wasn't a dream!"

How? Why was this happening to him? He was human a moment ago. The change was so quick he didn't even notice it. Now he was a fox. Naruto looked from side to side. He couldn't stay here. What if someone found him?

He went over to the door and tried to open it. He was much smaller now and couldn't reach the knob. He jumped and tried to turn it with both paws. It worked on his second try and the door opened. He pushed his way out with his nose and went into the hall. There were no servants around. He could sneak out. He crept down the deserted hallway, moving passed the paintings on the wall which seemed to stare at him as if he wasn't welcome. Even the prince's portrait stared at him with warning eyes, telling him to leave. Naruto made it to the main staircase and took it one step at a time. The carpet felt soft on his paws and allowed him to travel without making a sound.

The next challenge was going to be the door. These doors were big and heavy. He couldn't open them with his paws. No matter how many times he tried, it wasn't happening. Maybe there was a window he could use. He walked down another hallway. There were plenty of windows but none of them were open. They were so tall, they reached from floor to ceiling. As he passed one of the rooms, he noticed that there was an open window by a desk. What luck! He hurried inside and scampered onto the table. He was just small enough to squeeze through. He climbed onto the windowsill and escaped into open air.

It was twilight. The sun had set and the first of the stars were beginning to appear. Naruto made a break for it. He ran to the front gate and squeezed through the metal bars and into town. He had to find the foxes. He had to get answers. He knew this wasn't a dream now. Everything that happened that night was for real. It truly happened. Which meant the foxes were real as well. They could help him. They had to.

He went straight into the forest to where he had first met them. They weren't there. Naruto waited a few minutes hoping they would show up. When they didn't he started searching. He didn't have to look far. The foxes were just starting to arrive.

"Hello, Naruto. Welcome back."

Naruto went up to the small group. Only four had shown up so far. The green-eyed fox was among them. "Ryosuke, I have some questions."

"Sure thing. What is it? Race tips?"

"No, not that. I was wondering..." Naruto gestured to himself with his paw. "This morning I was back to being human. And just a few minutes ago, I changed and now I'm a fox again."

"Yeah."

"Why is that?"

"Oh, you'll turn into a fox every night at sunset. You'll turn back to a human when it comes up."

Naruto cocked his head. "So... I'm a were-fox?"

Ryosuke laughed uneasily. "Well, the curse is different for everyone."

"Come on!" whined Ishi. "Let's go! I'm starving!"

Ryosuke nodded. "We'll talk later. We have all night. Let's get some food now."

* * *

We're going to find things out very soon. There must be a reason why they didn't explain everything to Naruto right away.

Something must be going on...

Please review! ^-^


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

The foxes went into the town to scavenge food. Naruto didn't feel like following them. Sensing that Naruto's heart wasn't into this and that his mind was elsewhere, Ryosuke took Naruto to the mountain to chat. The climb was easier tonight. Naruto was getting better at this in record time.

Ryosuke and Naruto were left on the cliff alone, looking out at the night sky covering the town like a protective dome. Naruto had many questions. He had suspicions, too. Ryosuke waited for him to speak.

"So I'm cursed, right?"

"Yes," said Ryosuke. "And since you keep changing form from night to day, it's obvious that's your curse. Otherwise, you would still be a fox no matter the time. Since I'm not the caster, I have to guess on the details of your curse based on what I see."

"But you're not the ones who cursed me. Are you?"

Ryosuke shook his head. "No."

"Then who did?"

Ryosuke lowered his head. His face darkened. Naruto must have struck some sort of nerve. Ryosuke looked very upset. Just as Naruto was about to apologize for saying something he shouldn't have, Ryosuke spoke up.

"Reevo."

Naruto's ears twitched. "What?"

"That's the name of the one who cursed you. His name is Reevo. And..." Ryosuke's sigh fell like a stone to the ground. "... he used to be one of us."

Naruto moved closer to make sure he heard everything Ryosuke had to say. "Another fox did this to me? A kitsune did this?"

He nodded. "Yeah. He's a two-tails. He's more powerful than us. Reevo the two-tails."

Naruto kept thinking of a two-tailed beast, but he was certain that this was still a kitsune they were talking about. "So why did he do this?"

Ryosuke sighed again. "It's a difficult subject, Naruto."

"Oh. Sorry." Naruto wanted to know what it was but if it was too upsetting there was no way it would happen. He had to drop the subject.

"But it is one you must hear."

Naruto looked up. He gave Ryosuke his undivided attention.

"We used to live together in the same pack. The one you know now. We used to be much bigger. Because we're hunted by humans, we tended to avoid them and lived in the wild. Humans hunted foxes for their fur and meat. They also trapped us and had us killed, convinced we were nothing but pests. An arrangement was made so that we could live in peace. As long as we were given offerings, we would not enter human villages and bother them. Which meant no digging through trash and no pranks. Everyone agreed. For many years, this was the arrangement and we lived in peace."

Naruto nodded. This explained why they were given offerings. Naruto had been wondering about that.

"However, Reevo wasn't satisfied. He hated living the way we were. Forced to dwell in the forest and call a mountain our home. And still, humans treated us like pests. We were still hunted for our fur and skinned. Any fox that was found in town was beat to death or chased away with terrible injuries. Reevo hated this. He said that foxes shouldn't be treated this way. Humans were treated better. He didn't want to live as a fox anymore. He wanted to live the life of a human. Humans got the best of everything. He would watch them; study them. He learned a lot."

"But he can't just live like a human," said Naruto. "There's no way. He's a kitsune and everyone can see that."

"Ah, but one day he got his wish," Ryosuke continued. "His tail split into two and he became a two-tails. With the additional tail, his power grew. He could now assume a human form. He could transform himself into a human being and fool everyone."

Naruto gasped. "He can turn himself into a human?"

"Yes. And he did. He told us that he was going to live a better life. He was going to live among humans as a human. He said he would never have to hunt for food again or fear of being beaten for being seen in town. And so he left us and we never saw him again. We assume he got his wish and is now living as a human."

"You don't know?" Naruto asked.

"No. We don't know what human he changed into. You see, having two tails allows us to transform ourselves into a human but it doesn't give us a human form of our own. He would be in disguise. Taking on the form of someone else who is already living in the village." Ryosuke's face darkened again. "So far, no human seemed to be acting any different. No one was reported missing and there are no duplicates. Which means he must have gotten rid of the human he changed into."

Naruto's heart started racing. "By gotten rid of... do you mean..?" He gulped. "He killed them?"

"We don't think so. There are other ways of getting rid of a person than having them killed. Another power a fox gains with the addition of a second tail is curse inducement. He can force another person to change into anything he wants. Even into a fox. As you can see for yourself."

Naruto looked down at his fox body.

"He took their place as a human and forced them to take the place of something else. It could be anything. You got off easy and became a fox. Others aren't so lucky."

"How do you mean?"

Ryosuke looked over the cliff with a sad look on his face. "There used to be more of us, Naruto. More than a dozen kitsune. Now it's down to the ones you see. We know Reevo cursed them all so they would never be seen again."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he doesn't want his secret revealed. He's afraid if one of us finds out which human he has changed into, we can do something about it. We can either try stopping him ourselves, alert the humans, whatever. So he curses us to stop us. Once a kitsune finds out his identity, he curses them before they can give us the news. Most likely into an object. Objects don't speak. He must have done the same thing with the human he changed into so they couldn't tell others the truth."

Naruto was beginning to see the problem. "It's one thing for the guy to want to live as a human but it's another to take a human's place and get rid of the real one. That's awful."

"It could be anyone. A child, an old man, anyone." Ryouske turned from the sky and looked back at Naruto. "We want to stop him. We want to stop him from cursing people, and from taking people's place. He'll curse anyone who gets in his way, or anyone on a whim. You must have either pissed him off, gotten close to discovering who he truly was or were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered the result of one of his many whims."

Naruto looked at his paws. "I think I know why he might have changed me into this."

"Why's that?"

"I'm a ninja. I have a lot of jutsu I can use and a lot of other skills. I noticed that as a kitsune, I have none of that. I couldn't get up the mountain last night when I was a kitsune but I could easily do it as a human. I couldn't use chakra. I can't make hand-signs with paws, either. Turing me into a fox weakened me." Naruto sighed heavily. "And now I can't tell my friends about this or let them know I'm a fox at night or they'll get cursed as well. He must have been betting on that. If I do tell, I'll weaken them, too."

Ryosuke nodded in understanding.

"Now, even if I do run into the two-tailed fox, I can't do anything about it. I can't tell my friends, I can't battle him myself. I'll just get in the way no matter what."

"Plus, unless the two-tails is stopped, everyone will remained cursed. Which means even after your mission here is done, you'll still turn into a fox at night for the rest of your life. Ninja have missions at night, don't you? Talk about a handicap."

"You're right!" Naruto cried. "What if I'm in the middle of fighting someone and I turn into a fox? I'll be a sitting duck! Oh, what a pain!"

Naruto felt so useless. This was a no-win situation. What was he supposed to do?

"I know!" Ryosuke was looking a lot more cheerful now. "Why don't we train you?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah!" Ryosuke looked hopeful. "You're a kitsune, aren't you? Which means you can do anything we can. This way it won't be a total loss. Even if you leave this village cursed, at least you'll be able to do something in your fox form. Kitsune can do a lot of things. Let us teach you."

"You'll teach me how to be a kitsune?"

"We'll teach you how to use our fox abilities. You'll be able to use fox magic. We'll teach you all that we know. You'll cast illusions, learn possession. And also, how to use your other natural fox talents. It'll be great."

Naruto thought about it. There really wasn't much to think about. It sounded great. He'd learn a lot. He was excited to learn about his kitsune abilities. He jumped at the chance. "Yeah! Let's do it. I want to learn!"

Ryosuke gave him a foxy grin. "We'll get started tonight. Let's not waste any time."

Naruto's training started that night at the top of the mountain in a circle of trees. All the foxes were gathered there. Naruto stood in the middle, wondering if they were all going to teach him or just sit and watch while Ryosuke took over.

Ryosuke stood in front of Naruto and backed up so there was some distance between them. "I'm going to show you how to use fox fire. It's a skill every fox needs and uses on a regular basis. Without it, our power is limited. Even a young fox knows how to use this important skill. It's second nature to us kitsune. Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded, excited.

"Alright. Pay close attention." Ryosuke wagged his tail. He brought his tail close to his body and gave his fur a stroke. Light blue flames rose from his tail like dust from an old quilt. The flames started off small but grew quickly and became bright burning fire balls. "This is fox fire. This is how it looks in its most basic form."

Naruto stared wide-eyed at the flames hovering over Ryosuke's head. It was as if someone was holding an invisible torch over his body. It seemed kitsune could produce fire from their tails.

"Now we can bend the fire to our will and use many different fox magic techniques. One in particular would be the power of illusion. We can use fox fire to cast illusions to confuse our enemies or to pull pranks."

"Awesome!" Naruto's paws were dancing in place. He couldn't wait to give it a try.

"Here is a simple illusion we can use." The flame over Ryosuke's head began to flicker and change shape. It grew larger and took on a different form. It no longer looked like fire. It was a bird. It looked like a normal everyday bird with nothing out of the ordinary.

"That's so cool..! But wait..." Naruto cocked his head. There was something off about the bird now that he looked at it more closely. He could see the trees through its body. The bird had the body of a ghost. It wasn't solid at all. It was obviously an illusion. "I can see right through it."

"Or course you can," said Ishi. "Only humans and other creatures are fooled. To them it will appear perfectly solid and they won't be able to tell the difference between an illusion and the real thing. But kitsune eyes are special. We can see through our own deception. We're not so easily fooled."

"But it's only illusions we can see through," pointed out Aurora. "We can't tell other things apart. For instance, we can't tell if someone is a transformed fox or not."

So that meant they couldn't tell which human the two-tailed fox had disguised himself as. That made tracking him even harder.

"Would you like to give it a try, Naruto?" Ryosuke offered.

"Sure!" Naruto took a step forward and brought his tail close to his body. He stroked the fur with his paw. At first there was nothing, but soon tiny pieces of flame flew from his fur like sparks. It was like rubbing a balloon on his head. Naruto rubbed harder to get more flames. A giant flame shot from his tail, flew in front of his face and vanished.

"Be careful, Naruto," warned Ryosuke. "You must control the fire. If you don't, it will disappear before you can do anything with it. Try to maintain it. Gather up a good flame and hold it in your paw. We'll go from there once you've managed that."

Gather up the flame and hold it in his paw? How was he supposed to do that?

Naruto tried several times and each time, the fire would get out of control and vanish before he could do anything with it. He mastered conjuring it from his tail, now he just had to get to the next step. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be. When he managed to draw the fire out of his fur, he was so excited and thought it would be a cakewalk. He turned out to be mistaken. This turned out to be more like trying to learn how to ride a bicycle before getting his training wheels. He could sit on the bike. Now he just had to peddle and maintain balance long enough to get anywhere.

Ryosuke kept trying to give him tips and advice but after a while he started to repeat himself. It seemed there was nothing else he could tell him. Naruto had to figure it out from here. This came so naturally for them that it must have been difficult for them to teach it to someone who knew nothing about their nature. It wasn't just that, actually. There was only so much they could tell him after a certain point. Just like riding a bike. Sit on it and peddle. There wasn't much else that could be said other than some helpful tips for how to do that.

Naruto sat on the grass and tried to think. Ryosuke kept encouraging him, no matter how many kitsune started to lose faith in Naruto's abilities. Some of the kitsune looked worried for him. Others looked bored or annoyed. To them, this must have been like watching a baby take its first steps. It was exciting but after a while it seemed like nothing was going to happen.

"Focus, Naruto," Ryosuke said to him. "You have the flame conjuring down. Just gather it up in your paw. Draw it out and hold it. Imagine dragging your paw through mud and cupping a clump of it on you paw pad."

"He's not getting it, Ryosuke," said Aurora.

"Maybe it's because the analogies are wrong?" mumbled Seki. "Maybe it would be easier for him if we compared it to something a human would understand?"

"Like what? We don't know what humans-"

"Just let him try," said Ryosuke. "He'll get it. Maybe if he practices tonight, he'll get it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Ah!"

The foxes were getting impatient. Naruto couldn't blame them. What they were saying was true, though.

As a matter of what, what Seki said did give Naruto an idea. Maybe the issue was the difference between being a fox and being human. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. Now that he thought about it, this training seemed similar to his ninja training. Especially when he was first starting out. He remembered the tree climbing technique and everything he had to go through for that. Maybe he could apply it to this. Chakra control must have been similar to fire control. It had to be.

Naruto tried to imagine the fire as chakra. Now he just had to gather it up into his paw as Ryosuke said. Gather it up. Like chakra. Like the Rasengan. Of course. That's what he needed to do. It was the same thing.

Naruto gave it another shot. He drew more fire from his tail then tried to focus it into his paw like chakra. He concentrated. The fire began to bend. He focused all his energy into this. The flame bent and flickered. Then, slowly but surely, it began to coil itself into a ball much like the Rasengan. It floated to his paw and hovered there obediently.

"I did it," Naruto breathed. He turned to Ryosuke with a smile. "I did it!"

"About time!" said Aurora, but she was smiling when she said it. Even she seemed proud of his achievement.

"Perfect," said Ryosuke. "Now onto the next step. I want you to cast an illusion with it. Force the flame to take shape. Anything you want."

"Whatever I want, huh?" This seemed a little harder to do, but Naruto was confident. If he applied what he knew as a ninja to this kitsune training, he had a feeling he could master these new abilities in no time. If he compared certain ninja skills to fox magic, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to understand.

Illusions. They seemed similar to using a Substitution Jutsu or even the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Maybe he could apply that here and get somewhere. That could help his training out a lot. Maybe even make it go faster. It was worth a try.

Naruto tried bending the flame to his will and force it to take shape. At first it only flickered and waved, taking on no other shape. Naruto concentrated, trying to make it into a clone of himself. That was the easiest thing to do to start with. Clones were easy for him to do now, so making an illusion clone would have been no problem. He poured his energy into the flame and it started to take shape. He tried to will it into the shape of himself. Slowly, very slowly, it started to work. He could see the body forming and gaining some color.

The kitsune watched him in silence, letting him concentrate.

His illusion was getting stronger. Slowly but surely it improved until at last they were looking at a human Naruto clone.

Naruto looked at his successful human clone and smiled at his work. "I did it."

The clone stood still and silent like a painting on a wall. Naruto tried to get it to move. The clone's arm lifted slightly but with its movement, the arm momentarily faded and came back when the clone stopped. It reminded Naruto of a match flame being waved through the air without going out.

"This is good for your first time," Ryosuke told him. "Good job."

"How's it look to you guys? Is it ok?"

The other kitsune thought it was good work for a first attempt. They praised him.

"Try thinking of the illusion as a puppet on strings you can control," advised Ryosuke. "You can move it. Make it do what you want. Try. Try moving your puppet self."

Naruto had been trying to move it just by thinking about it. With Ryosuke's advice, Naruto thought he could do a better job this time around. Naruto used his paw to move the illusion, trying to imagine it as a puppet as Ryosuke had said. The illusion bent forward, bowing at the waist. It was working. Naruto tried to get his clone to wave to him. With a little work, the clone turned to the left and waved at Naruto with its right hand.

"Yes!" Naruto cheered. "Yes, I did it."

"You're good," said Ryosuke.

The illusion lingered for another minute then vanished. Ryosuke said that they didn't last long if the kitsune wasn't concentrating or no longer wanted it around. Naruto wanted to try again and make more clones this time. It took him a while but by the end of practice, he managed to produce a total of two perfect clones. The third one never fully solidified and looked like a ghost without legs hovering in the air. Naruto wanted to do better but even he knew it was time to give it a rest. Even so, he couldn't put it out of his mind and kept thinking of ways he could improve.

Some of the kitsune were going back into town to look for some food and offered to take Naruto along. Thinking he may get some new ideas, he decided to join them.

The town was dark and quiet. Most of the homes were locked up tight and dark. Despite this, the kitsune urged him to be cautious and move carefully without making a sound. Naruto crept along with the group looking from left to right for signs of life. Going in pairs, the kitsune started to spread out. Lunabell went with Ryosuke and Sonar went with Aurora. Naruto went with Seki. Each group remained close to the others, never venturing past the block they were on.

Before Naruto could ask what they were doing, he saw Ryosuke stand on his hind legs and lower his head into a trash can while Lunabell watched. Seki started doing the same. He rummaged around in the can near Naruto and pulled out discarded pieces of food no one wanted and dropped them on the ground. Naruto wrinkled his nose in disgust as orange peels fell to the ground and pieces if meat with trash still stuck to them.

This is what they were reduced to. Fishing in trash cans for discarded remains of human food. It was disgusting.

Then Naruto noticed that the kitsune weren't tipping over the cans. It would make things easier to search. Was it because they didn't want to make a mess?

"Want to help?" Seki asked, taking his head out of the trash can.

"Oh, uh..." Naruto didn't want to go digging through trash like a stray animal.

"Give it a try." Seki offered Naruto the can.

Having no other choice, Naruto climbed up and peered inside. The smell was even more foul up close. His sensitive fox nose itched and burned. He couldn't stand it.

"Find anything good?" Seki asked him.

Was he actually expected to look? Naruto used his paw to dig through the garbage but found nothing appealing. He quickly took his paw away, needing it for support. He could feel the trash can tipping without it there to steady himself. Naruto took his head out and climbed down. "No. Nothing good."

"Not even an apple core?" Seki sounded disappointed. Was food so hard for them to find that a measly apple core was something to hope for? Judging from the look on Seki's face, it sounded like a lucky find. Or at the very least, a meal.

"Why not tip the cans over?" Naruto suggested. "You might find more at the bottom."

"We can't do that. The humans will know we were here and come after us. We can't make a mess. It will make noise, to boot."

"Found something." Ryosuke pulled a chicken leg out of the trash with his teeth and dropped it on the ground.

Naruto winced. The kitsune were digging through trash with their teeth. Naruto only used his paw and he could barely stand it. How were they not grossed out?

"We'll look over here." Seki took Naruto to the next trash can across the street. "Did you want to try this one, Naruto?"

"No, you look." Naruto didn't want to stick his head in garbage again.

Seki moved towards the can, then stopped. He started backing away.

"What?" Naruto came closer and saw a dog staring at them from around the side of the house. "What?"

Seki pinned his ears back and started to back away slowly. "We should leave."

"Why? It's just a dog."

The dog started growling and showed its teeth. Even Naruto knew it was going to attack. His fur was standing on end.

"Ryosuke!" Seki shouted. "Dog!"

The dog snapped at them and ran forward. The kitsune picked up what they could and ran back to the woods. Seki called for Naruto and took off running. Naruto followed him. When he looked back, he saw the dog chasing them, snapping at their tails and snarling. Since all the kitsune were running, Naruto followed their lead and didn't engage the dog. He ran as fast as he could.

As he ran, he noticed that Seki was no longer in front of him. They were running alongside each other. Soon, Naruto was in front of him. Naruto's speed had increased. He was faster than he was before. Naruto was getting the hang of his fox body.

The dog followed them all the way to the edge of the town and stopped once they reached the woods. Even with the dog no longer chasing them, the foxes didn't stop for an instant. As soon as they reached the mountain, they started climbing. Naruto took a running start and jumped to the first rock his paws could grasp. From their, he climbed, following the group up the side of the mountain. It didn't take him long at all this time. He didn't need their help to get up like the other night. Before he knew it, they reached the top and stopped to catch their breath and dump their findings in the grass.

Naruto looked behind him at the long drop down the mountain. It was just as high as it was last night but somehow he managed to climb it quickly so it didn't seem so large. Then he turned to Seki. "Why did we run from the dog? What's wrong?"

Seki panted. "Kitsune fear dogs. Some even have a hatred of them."

"Why?"

"Because dogs eat foxes. We are foxes, after all. Humans have used dogs for hunting for centuries. They hunt and kill foxes," explained Seki. "Not only that, but dogs are also capable of detecting a kitsune. They can sense us."

"Sense us? What do you mean?"

"If a fox is transformed or using an illusion to hide behind, a dog can tell that a kitsune is there and find us. A dog won't be fooled by a transformation. It will know that it is a kitsune in disguise."

"Really?"

Seki nodded. "For those reasons, dogs are dangerous. They're a threat in both cases. So we have to avoid them."

"Oh. Thanks for telling me." Naruto had no idea. There was a lot more to being a kitsune than he realized.

"We can't go back into town tonight," said Ryosuke. "The dog will be looking for us. We have to make due with what we have tonight."

"Then what do we do for the rest of the night?" asked Seki.

"We can help Naruto with his fox fire," Ryosuke suggested. "As long as he's up for it."

Naruto was happy to agree. He was ready to improve. He would get better and he was more than willing to do so.

* * *

What an exhilarating night. Naruto had such a blast. He couldn't believe how quickly he picked things up. In a single night, he had learned how to use fox fire. His speed had increased as well. He was getting a lot better at racing in his fox body. Even his climbing had improved. He was a faster learner than he thought.

However, come morning, he was feeling the effects of his fun evening. His muscles were sore and he could barely keep his eyes open. He had managed to crawl into bed just before the sun rose that morning and by the time he collapsed into bed, he was human again. Only a short time later, he heard Neji knocking on his door to rouse him for breakfast. He had only slept for two hours at most. He didn't want to get out of bed. He wanted to rest and recover from last night. He could always eat later. The next thing he knew, Sakura was pounding on his door and demanded he get up at once. Naruto dragged himself out of bed and into the hall.

The prince didn't meet them for breakfast. According to the staff, he had taken breakfast into his morning room as he often did to do some work. That suited Naruto just fine. He couldn't stand the way the prince looked at Sakura.

"I think we should approach this differently today," Neji was saying. "The prince is being very vague about the issue."

"So you've noticed that, too?" Sakura looked across the table at Naruto who was about to take a header into his eggs. She slammed her fist on the tabletop to get his attention. "Naruto!"

His head snapped up immediately. "I'm up! I'm up!"

Neji continued. "As I was saying... The prince doesn't seem to want to address the issue."

"According to the staff, he doesn't see anything as a problem. He figured everything would work itself out and there was no need to send for assistance," said Sai. "Only through their pressuring did he finally agree."

"I see," said Sakura. "So he's avoiding the issue because he doesn't approve of sending for aid when he thinks there isn't a need for it. He only did it because the staff begged him to. Maybe he feels that by sending for help, it's a poor reflection on his rule as the prince of this land. If he can't handle things himself..."

"That's a possibility." Neji looked across the table at Naruto. His eyes kept fluttering shut and was starting to drool onto his plate. It was pretty distracting. "Naruto, are we boring you?"

"No, no." Naruto tried not to yawn but he couldn't help it.

"Why are you so tired?"

"I, uh..." He couldn't tell them the truth. They would end up cursed as well. He had to keep everything he was doing at night a secret. "I... didn't get a lot of sleep last night. My bed was lumpy."

"Try to pay attention. This next part is important."

"I am, I am."

Neji went back to his speech. "I think we should approach things a little differently today. Yesterday, we asked the people in town if any of them had a reason to harm the prince or if any of them had a grudge against him. They said they didn't. But I think we were asking the wrong question. I think we should have asked if they knew anyone who would want to hurt the prince. Be it on this land or another."

"You're right. That is a better question to ask."

"Then it's agreed," Neji announced. "We'll do that today after our meal."

Naruto landed face-first into his plate.

Neji rolled his eyes. "For God's sake." He got out of his seat, reached across the table and picked Naruto up by his hair. "What is wrong with you?"

Naruto whined and pried Neji's hand away. "I told you, I'm tired!"

"This is a bit excessive, don't you think?" Neji sat back down. "Ask the servants to bring you some warm milk or something. You're on a mission, so we can't have you nodding off like that."

"Then let me take a nap or something."

"Then how will you sleep tonight if you take a nap now? Then you'll be up all night anyway. Tough it out until this evening, then go straight to bed and get some rest."

Naruto couldn't do that. He had arranged to meet the kitsune again that evening after sunset. Naruto had to be rested for that. He had to sleep during the day. However, with Neji around, he wasn't going to be able to. He had to try to sneak in a quick nap without him noticing.

* * *

We're starting to learn more about Naruto's curse and about the kitsune.

It would seem Naruto now has two problems to face: his current mission, and the kitsune who cursed him.

Thoughts? Predictions?

Please review! ^-^ Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Naruto tried his best to stay awake while they questioned the people in town for a second time. Now that he was up and moving around, it was a lot easier to stay awake.

Still, he caught himself daydreaming about the foxes several times. He looked up towards the waterfall where he had his training and wondered how they were doing. The kitsune told him that they were nocturnal so they must have been sleeping by this time. He couldn't wait to see them again. He wanted to learn so much more. It was a lot of fun.

Naruto looked down at his hands. Just last night, they were paws. Paws manipulating flames.

A thought occurred to him. If he could use fox fire last night, maybe he could do it now. He waved his hand in front of him, trying to conjure up a flame. Nothing happened. He tried again and again, using different movements and gestures. Still nothing. Apparently he could only do it in fox form.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked him.

Naruto stopped at once and folded his hands behind his back. "Uh, nothing."

Sakura gave him a strange look. They had to go to the next house and ask them the same question they were asking everyone else. Sakura knocked on one of the doors and waited. An old man answered; the same one who glared at them when they first arrived the other day.

"What do you want?"

"Sorry to bother you," said Sakura politely. "We just had a few quick questions for you and it would be a big help if you could answer, please."

The old man looked very annoyed and started to retreat back into his home. "Is it about the prince? I thought I gave you ninja my answers the other day. Can't you leave me alone?"

"Sorry, but we didn't ask everything that was needed. I'll make it quick."

"Then speak, girl. Don't keep me waiting."

Naruto could tell that Sakura wanted to yell at him but she forced herself to remain calm and polite. "Do you know of anyone who would want to harm the prince? Even in other lands."

The old man scoffed. "The prince is a brat, not that much older than yourselves. He isn't fit to rule, not even a land this small. Of course people from other lands won't take him seriously."

"So you do know something."

"Silly girl, don't you use your brain? Think! That prince is not fit to rule. He has much to learn."

Sakura's eye twitched at his remark about her but she let it slide. "In ways of what?"

The old man folded his arms. "To be perfectly honest, I don't think he's too bright. He has to know how to put his foot down and do what's best for his people. There's no room for a kindhearted prince."

"I have to disagree."

He frowned at Sakura. "He, like the rest of his family, loves animals. He's an animal-lover. Won't hurt them, but he won't turn down bacon on his plate. He hates cruelty to animals in all forms. Even hunting is restricted on this land."

"Is that an issue for you?" asked Sakura. "Are you a hunter?"

"No, but my family is. If an animal becomes a problem, I see no reason why we can't put it down. If a dog is barking at night, keeping you up at all hours, I say muzzle it and kick the damn thing until it learns to stay quiet."

"That's cruel!"

"You sound like the prince." The man started to turn into his home. "Mark my words, ever since that prince came into power after his parents died, this place has been going to the dogs. He's letting the animals rule rather than the humans. That's why they run amok. Animals are free to do what they want because he's too timid to do something about it." He slammed the door in her face.

"Isn't he friendly," Naruto muttered.

"That jerk!" Sakura turned away in a huff. "The next house better be better." Now she was in a foul mood. Naruto shouldn't get too close.

* * *

Once they were finished going from door to door, Naruto sneaked back to the palace and hid under the covers for a quick nap in his room. This was just what he needed. He was starting to get a headache from going without sleep. He was right in the middle of a good dream when he felt someone tugging on his jacket. "Nugh..! Whaaat?"

"Are you kidding me right now?" Neji was standing over him and he didn't look too pleased. "What did I tell you? Sleep tonight so you can get some rest. Now you're going to be up all night again."

Naruto rolled onto his back and pouted sleepily up at Neji, which only made him look adorable rather than threatening. "I just wanted to nap for a few minutes."

"When did you sneak in here?"

"You're the one who can see through walls. You tell me."

"No snide remarks!"

"I don't know. Before noon, I guess."

"It's 3:30 now."

Naruto didn't care. He wanted to get some more sleep before tonight.

"Get up, Naruto."

"What's the point? We're not doing anything. I interviewed those people with you guys. Now can I rest?"

"I told you to rest tonight so you can sleep properly. Do you ever once listen to anything I tell you to do?"

Naruto threw a pillow over his face and tried to tune him out.

"Naruto!" Neji pulled on the pillow. "I said get up this second!"

"And do what? What are we doing that's so important that I have to get up right this second? Tell me that."

"I gave you an order."

"So you just have to be the boss and bark orders, is that right?"

"We're also discussing the information we gathered from the people in town." Neji pulled Naruto into a sitting position. "Look, I'm not doing this to be mean or anything. I'm trying to help you but your problem is that you never listen and do your own thing. In order for you to get some rest, you have to stay awake until this evening. Otherwise, you'll be up all night again. Understand what I'm saying?"

Naruto grumbled. He understood perfectly. That wasn't the issue. The issue was that he wanted to be up all night so he could continue his kitsune training.

Neji stood up and left the room, promising to return if Naruto wasn't up in the next five minutes.

Naruto flopped back onto the bed with a groan. He thought of a way around this. If he made a Shadow Clone, then he could send the clone out in his place while the real Naruto slept. Then he put his plan into action and summoned up a Shadow Clone. Finally he could get some rest.

Until he felt something crawl into bed beside him and yank the covers away. "Good night."

Naruto looked at his clone. "Uh-uh! No, no. You go pester Neji so he'll get off my back while I finish sleeping."

"No way!" said his clone. "You go out there and I'll stay here."

"No! That's not what I brought you here for." Naruto pulled the covers away.

"I'm tired, too!" His clone yanked them back.

"I'm more tired than you are!"

"Wanna bet?"

Now they were in a tug-of-war over the covers and the bed. His clone kicked and shoved him off the bed several times which only provoked him into pushing his clone back. Now they were wrestling each other over the bed. They both wanted it.

Neji poked his head back into the room and watched Naruto attack his own clone. "Are you really that stupid or did you not think this plan through?" he asked. "When you make a clone, your clone is going to be your exact self from the moment you conjure it."

In other words, if Naruto created his clone when he was tired, then his clone was going to to be just as tired, too. It was a clone of him, after all. They were going to be the same.

"What the hell was I thinking?" He punched his clone in the face.

* * *

After the clone issue was settled, Naruto did manage to squeeze in another hour of sleep before leaving his room. He joined his team for an early dinner. To his dismay, the prince was there, right beside Sakura. Glaring, Naruto took his seat and watched them carefully.

"What?" said the prince, looking surprised. "The man in town said that?"

Sakura nodded. "He says he can't take you seriously. He also said that he's not the only one to think so. Other lands you trade with say the same thing."

"I know I'm young, but that shouldn't matter. My parents raised me to be the ruler of this land. From a very young age, I was taught a great many things. I'm familiar with laws and trade and money and so much else. I know what I'm doing. But if it's my age that has everyone concerned..."

"We spoke to your servants as well, but none of them feel the same way. They all think you're doing a great job."

"So far, only that one man seemed to voice his negative opinion," said Sai. "Everyone else had little to say on the matter. If they could think of anyone who would want to do you harm, it's in another land. Not here."

"I see." Prince Akio looked down at his plate, bottling up his feelings so no one could read him.

"Personally," said Sakura, trying to cheer him up, "I think you're doing a great job. Out of everyone, only that one man seemed to have anything really bad to say about you. You're clearly well-liked."

"Uh-huh, sure." Naruto poked at his plate, keeping his head down.

Akio smiled at Sakura. "You're such a charming girl. So caring and kind. I'm honored to have you in my company."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the prince. This guy was getting on his nerves.

The prince waved a servant over to the table once they were nearly finished with their plates. "Please bring out the dessert I requested."

"Of course, Your Highness."

The servant went away and returned with a small cake in the shape of a lotus flower and placed it in front of Sakura. She stared at the detailed dessert with sparkling eyes. "Oh, wow. It's beautiful!" She almost didn't want to cut into it. It was truly a work of art.

"I had the servants make you this special dessert. I hope it's to your liking," said the prince.

"I love it. It's so pretty." Sakura held the plate up to her face to examine it from every angle. She couldn't keep herself from smiling.

And the prince couldn't take his eyes off her. His smile deepened as he watched her admire the dish he had prepared for her.

Naruto gripped his chopsticks so tightly they snapped in half. Who did this guy think he was?

After dinner and once Sakura had finished her dessert, the group went back to their rooms for the evening. The sun was just beginning to set. Naruto didn't have long. However, he had other things on his mind at the moment that had nothing to do with his transformation.

"Who does that guy think he is?"

"Are you going to start that again?" Sakura asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I told you, he's just being nice."

"He's hitting on you! Even Sai sees it and that's saying something!"

"Please leave me out of this."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Hey, the guy's a prince. You heard him. He was taught how to treat certain people. Since I'm the only girl in the group, it shouldn't be that surprising that he'd treat me a little differently."

"A little?!" Naruto forced himself to laugh. "You're the only one who got a dessert at that table."

"You guys didn't ask for one."

"Neither did you!"

"I'm a girl. He must see that and think-"

"What do you see in him?"

Sakura stopped to take in what he had just said. "What I see in him?"

"Yeah!"

Sakura folded her arms. "Well, maybe, that he's kind and generous and thoughtful."

"He didn't even make you that dessert. His servants did!" Naruto pointed out. "If he really cared, he would have made it himself instead of having someone else do it for him. Yeah, he totally cares."

"When was the last time you did something that nice for me?"

Naruto didn't have anything to say to that.

"Ah-ha! See? Don't point out someone else's flaws before your own. Make me a cake and then we'll take."

"I offered you out on a date I can't tell you how many times!"

"Yeah, and then you ask me to pay! That's not a date!"

Neji and Sai's heads moved from left to right as Naruto and Sakura exchanged words.

"He's just being nice! He's just being nice, you keep saying," whined Naruto in a high voice, mocking her. "You know, he's hitting on you and I don't like that. He's a jerk. A total pervert."

"He hasn't said a single thing wrong to me since I got here and he never once made a move! Some pervert! You on the other hand!" Sakura shoved Naruto roughly into the wall and stormed down the hall. "You know," she said turning around briefly, "it wouldn't kill you to act more like a prince, Naruto!"

"Why would I act like that play-boy?!" Naruto shouted down the hall. "He's a perverted jerk, but I guess you're too dumb to see that!"

Naruto realized what he had just said a little too late. Neji and Sai backed away as Sakura came charging back down the hall with her fist raised high.

"You stupid... CHA!"

"Ahh!"

* * *

Naruto limped back to his room with a swollen face and a whimper. Neji shook his head. "I keep telling you to think before you act," he said. "Get some rest tonight. I don't want to drag you out of bed again like a stubborn two year old."

By the time Naruto turned his head to acknowledge him, Neji had already gone into his room and closed the door. Sai grinned at him and said, "I suppose this is the lover's quarrel I've been reading about for some time. Interesting."

Naruto pouted, which was difficult with his swollen cheek. "Any chance you know a book that tells you how to deal with girls?"

Sai thought. "Well, I did read in a magazine that flowers and candy are a good way to go. Then there was a mention of something else. But I wouldn't go there."

"Why not?"

"When I mentioned it to Sakura, she hit me."

Naruto went into his room. "Thanks a lot." He closed the door and crossed the room to open the window. Once it was open, he sat down on his bed and put a hand to his cheek. "Ow!" He took his hand away. He looked back out the window. The sun was just peeking out from the tops of the trees. Just a few seconds more.

The sun was gone.

Naruto squatted down on all fours and gave his body a shake. He looked down at his paws and felt his tail swishing from side to side. He was a fox again. Now he could have some fun. He couldn't wait. He jumped out the open window with ease and scampered off into the night.

* * *

The forest was alive, even at this hour. There were people still walking the streets outside their homes so Naruto had to be very careful not to be spotted. Once he reached the trees, it was smooth sailing. He met up with the foxes at the base of the mountain. Sonar, Lunabell, Aurora, Sammi, Egao, Superu, Ishi, and Seki were all there waiting for him with Ryosuke. Naruto was so happy to see them.

"Ready for tonight?" Ryosuke asked.

Naruto nodded his head. "What do I learn tonight?"

Aurora answered for him. "It's not enough to simply use fox fire. You must also live as a fox. Otherwise, this is all pointless."

Naruto grinned at her. "That sounds like fun. I'm up for it."

She shook her head from side to side. "You won't be saying that after what we'll be doing tonight."

"Why? What are we doing?"

"The same thing we do every night," answered Lunabell. "Find food."

Naruto cocked his head. "That's part of my training?"

"It should. After all, it's not enough to simply use fox fire. There's much more to it than that."

He looked to Ryosuke who seemed to agree with the other foxes. "There are still humans up and about so it will have to wait until later this evening. For now, we'll continue with your other training. Let's start with racing."

Racing again? Naruto thought he was good at that already. He didn't complain and joined them all in yet another race up and down the mountain. This was his third night doing it and he was even swifter than the first time. He was faster, too. He was able to keep with with Ryosuke. But still, he couldn't beat him.

When the insects of the night started chirping, Ryosuke switched things around. Now it was time to find food.

Ryosuke, Sonar, Lunabell and Seki took him down a different path from the others insisting that they would find food in this direction.

It was no wonder. They led him right to a farm where rows and rows of crops were growing in fresh soil. Naruto looked in different directions. Were they actually going to raid this field while the farmer was in bed?

"Hey, Ryosuke."

"Yeah?"

"We're not really going to take food from here, are we?"

"Sometimes we have to. There's very little to go around." Ryosuke led him into the field. "Don't worry. We only take what is needed and leave nothing behind."

"Nothing behind?"

"That means don't start to eat something then leave it on the ground," explained Seki. "Either finish it or take it with you."

"Oh, I see. Don't waste." Naruto thought that made a lot of sense.

Naruto stayed close to the others at the beginning. Once they started to fan out, he chose to remain close to Ryosuke. At first, he wasn't comfortable with taking from this field, then he thought about helping out his new fox friends and decided to do his part. They ate whatever they dug up and tried hard not to mess up the farmer's work.

"How often do you raid the fields?" asked Naruto.

"Only when we have to," he answered. "We usually dig through trash cans but that isn't always enough. Even with our diminishing numbers."

"Oh." Naruto lowered his head. How could he forget about the other kitsune who were cursed by Reevo? They must have had a lot of foxes to feed at one time. Now it was just the nine of them. Or ten if Naruto could be counted as one of them. It must have been difficult for them.

Naruto wandered further away without realizing it and found himself in front of a wooden building. From this angle, he couldn't tell what it was until a horse leaned its head out the opening. Naruto moved closer to it. It was a large brown horse with dark eyes. Even in the lack of light he could still see it quite clearly.

"You new?" it asked.

"Wah!" Naruto jumped back in surprise.

"Sorry!" said the horse. "I didn't mean to spook you."

Ryosuke lifted his head from the row of carrots and smiled. "Hello, Jack. Still up, huh?"

"With all the scampering you guys do, how can I sleep?" The horse laughed. "This one new? He's jumpy."

"Yeah, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is Jack. He's a good friend of ours."

Naruto looked from Ryosuke to the horse. "He can talk? Since when?" He had never seen a ninja horse before and he doubted this was one, which only made him wonder even more why it could talk. That took him by surprise. He wasn't expecting it.

"We're kitsune. We can understand what animals are saying," said Ryosuke.

"We can? I can? Sweet!"

Ryosuke dragged over a carrot from the field and tossed it up to Jack. "We're training Naruto how to be a kitsune. He was cursed, you see."

Jack finished the carrot and gave Naruto a sniff. "I see. Well, of all things to be cursed into being, this one isn't that bad."

"So you know about the two-tailed fox?" Naruto asked.

"Yup. These kitsune are friends of mine. We share and chat from time to time."

"Do you happen to know who the fox is? Who it's hiding as?"

Jack shook his head. "No. I spend most of my time here. I never travel into town. I stay here in the fields. I wouldn't be able to answer that."

"I see."

Ryosuke nudged him with his paw. "If it were that easy, we wouldn't have a problem, would we?"

"I guess you're right."

The foxes continued to gather what little food they could. First they fed themselves, then they tried to gather up leftovers in their mouths for the other foxes. Naruto watched them for a while, then came closer to help. One or two missing potatoes wouldn't be so bad. This was a large field. From this new perspective, it seemed to go on for miles. It was strange being this small.

Jack's head picked up and he thumped the wooden gate on his stall to alert the foxes. "Someone's coming! Hurry!"

Sonar picked up a cabbage in his teeth and took off. Seki grabbed a tomato and carried it away in his mouth. Ryosuke scooped up one of Naruto's potatoes. "Hurry, Naruto! Run!"

"Run?" Naruto looked straight ahead, a man was coming right at them with a shovel. Naruto had nearly forgotten that they were stealing from this man's field. He had better get out of the field before getting a scolding.

"Dirty pests!" The man swung the shovel which nearly hit Naruto in the head. That's right! They were foxes. Even Naruto. This farmer would kill him if he was given the chance. Naruto bolted. "Stay out of my field!"

Naruto looked back. The farmer was chasing them. He looked forward and saw the foxes scattering into the night. Naruto tripped over his own paws and tumbled. When he recovered, he saw the farmer standing over him with his shovel. Naruto rolled out of the way just in time and ran for it. The farmer was still chasing him! He ran as fast as he could, zigzagging across the grass and into the trees. He jumped over one bush then another and twisted around the trees in his path and around again. Before he knew it, he had backtracked back to the field. He stopped and looked around. There was the farmer, standing at the gate to his property, peering into the trees where Naruto had vanished. He still had that shovel, resting on his shoulder as if prepared to bring it down hard on anything that scurried out of the darkness. Naruto watched him carefully from where he crouched. After another minute, the farmer gave up and walked back to his house, shovel still on his shoulder.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one. He turned and went back into the woods, taking a different route. There he rejoined the other foxes who had dumped all their food into a pile on the grass. Ryosuke came over as soon as he saw Naruto.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto suddenly realized something. "I think I know why you had me race before heading out to get food. You have to be fast in order to escape and not get caught. If you're caught, they kill you."

Sonar nodded his head. "Yeah. A couple of us were killed that way in the past."

"So what did you bring back, Naruto?" asked Lunabell.

Naruto was at a loss for words. In his haste, he had forgotten to grab something and put it in the pile. "Uh..."

"You didn't get anything?"

"Sorry."

"It's ok," said Seki. "As long as you're alive."

"Let's get some food in us and we can get back to training Naruto," said Lunabell.

Naruto approached the pile and counted everything that was brought back. One small cabbage, one potato, one tomato, five bean pods and a half eaten peach with dirt on it. This was supposed to feed nine foxes? This was barely a snack for Naruto.

The foxes sat in a circle and started to divide up the food. The potato was bitten into thirds and so was the tomato. The peach half was halved again and given to Lunabell and Aurora. The beans were split among the males. The cabbage was saved for last and was pulled apart by their teeth. Whatever was bitten off was that fox's share.

Ryosuke dropped a piece of potato at Naruto's feet. "Here. Eat."

"I'm fine."

"Just because you didn't manage to bring anything back doesn't mean you go without. This is yours."

So they all shared. It wasn't a finders-keepers rule. Even if some failed to get food, the others still shared with the one who didn't bring anything back. They hunted for each other.

"I'm not that hungry. I ate before coming here." That was true. Naruto had eaten dinner not too long ago with his friends in the prince's dining room.

"Are you sure?"

"You guys need it more."

Naruto's share was given to Sonar.

This was how they lived? Was there really that little food?

"Doesn't this forest have anything to eat in it?" he asked.

"Very little," said Sonar. "There are other animals that live here besides us. Most of the time, they get to the food before us. Other animals are too big for us to hunt down and eat. It's hard. Which is why we needed those offerings."

"I see." This was a hard life for the foxes.

"Well, let's continue with your training, Naruto." Seki stood up and walked away from the others. "I'll help you out tonight."

"What about Ryosuke?"

Ryosuke looked down where the pile of food used to be. "I should help the others find some food. I'll train you later after that."

"I'll go, too," announced Aurora. "I'll make sure Seki doesn't do anything stupid."

"I'm careful!"

The group split up again. Naruto went with Seki and Aurora. At first, it was more fox fire manipulation. Naruto had excellent control over it. Partway through his training, Seki asked him a question.

"So how is your group doing? Is the prince alright?"

Naruto scoffed. "Sometimes, I wish he wasn't. He's hitting on Sakura. No one else seems to see it."

"Is she your mate?"

Naruto's blue flame disappeared. "Say what?"

"Is she your mate?"

"Uh..." If they meant 'girlfriend' he may have been able to give a good answer. Then again, maybe not. They weren't really dating. Then again, he really wanted to. Sometimes, he did say that they were an item. "Well, I guess you can sort of say that."

Seki grinned.

"What?"

"Foxes mate for life. Did you know that?" he said. "Once you've picked your mate, no one else can have her and you can't mate with anyone else. Only hers and only yours. Get it?"

"So make sure she's a good one because you're stuck with her forever," added Aurora.

That was something Naruto didn't know. So foxes mated for life. That was interesting.

"What about the others in your group? Do they know you're leaving at night?"

"No," he admitted. "No one knows anything. And because I'm doing this at night, I'm tired during the day. And because no one knows, they don't get why I am so tired. Neji's being a real pain in the ass about it, too."

"Neji? Who's that?"

"One of my friends. He's also leading the team."

Seki started grinning again. "Hey, Naruto... want to have a little fun?"

That peaked Naruto's interest. "What kind of fun?"

"How do you feel about messing with your group? You know? Pulling pranks."

"I did so many pranks when I was younger. I still love them!" Naruto was getting excited. "Sure! I'm fine with that. What did you have in mind?"

"Follow me."

Seki took Naruto back into town with Aurora not far behind. It was late now. All the humans were inside their homes and most likely all in bed. Now everything was quiet and it was easy to sneak around without being noticed. Seki led the way down the road and back into the trees. It seemed they were trying to keep out of sight. This path took them uphill. Naruto found it easier to walk uphill on four paws than on two feet. Then Seki came to a stop and waited for them.

"What is it?" Naruto asked when he caught up.

Seki pointed with his nose. "Take a look."

Naruto peered through the trees and noticed the large wall which surrounded the Prince's palace. From where they sat on the hill, they could see over the top of the wall and into the yard. It was just as Naruto thought. Part of the palace was built into the hill. No wonder he could see the grass from his second floor window. The steep hill went up to their windows on one side of the palace.

Seki moved forward slightly and then jumped, landing on the wall. It looked so easy. "Come on," he pressured.

Naruto bent his knees and sprang. His front paws made it to the wall but not his back legs and was left dangling over the edge. His paws slid on the smooth stone, making it difficult to climb up. Seki grabbed Naruto's scruff with his teeth and helped pull him up. Aurora jumped last and offered her assistance as well. Once Naruto was sitting on the wall, they moved back to let him move freely.

"Thanks."

Seki was looking into the yard.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Them." Seki was pointing into one of the windows of the mansion. "Is that one of your friends?"

Naruto looked. Someone was moving inside the room. They were sitting in the middle of the floor, drawing something on a sketch pad.

"Is that Neji?" asked Aurora.

"No," said Naruto. "That's Sai."

"Then who is Neji?"

"He's got long hair. Can't miss him."

Aurora nodded. "Alright." She moved further down the wall, walking in a very cat-like manner.

Naruto and Seki watched Sai draw for a few more minutes. Naruto was getting bored.

"So he's an artist, is he?"

Naruto glanced up. "Yeah, I guess." Naruto lowered his head. "I wonder why he's drawing this late at night? Shouldn't he be in bed or something?"

Sai's hand was moving slowly across the paper, making fine details in his latest creation. Then the pace would pick up and the lines would appear faster on the paper. Then his hand slowed again. Then it stopped and he leaned back to admire his work. Then he would start up again. To Naruto, this was boring to watch.

Then Seki startled smiling. "We're in luck. He looks tired."

"Hm?" Naruto looked back into the room. Sai's hand was staying still longer and longer. Then Naruto noticed his head bobbing. "Oh, yeah. He does." Naruto turned his head to look at Seki. "Why's that good luck?"

"Because it makes it easier for us to do some of our tricks."

Inside the room, Sai's head picked up again and he lowered his pen. He started to pack up his sketch book. It looked like he was finally ready to go to bed.

"Now's the perfect chance," said Seki. "Fox fire."

Blue wisps spread from his tail and his paw. Then they leapt forward and into the room where they hovered in front of Sai's face.

"What are you doing?" Naruto hissed.

"Watch." Seki directed the flames with his paw.

The wisps of blue flame started to change shape. They morphed into butterflies and danced around Sai's head. Sai looked surprised and a bit confused. He kept track of their movements with his eyes. He started to stand up. Then he lifted his hands and whispered the word "Release."

"What's he doing?" asked Seki.

"I think he thinks it's a Genjutsu and he's trying to dispel it."

The butterflies didn't go away. They remained in the room, as stubborn as could be. Now Sai really looked confused.

Seki snickered and moved his paw again.

The butterflies drew closer together and formed a large butterfly which flapped its wings up and down, sprinkling light into the room, like fairy dust. Sai moved away slightly. When the wings slowed he moved forward and reached out his hand to touch it. The giant butterfly melted away and now Sai was staring back at himself. The butterfly had changed into Sai. It was a perfect clone.

Seki was snickering again. "Their faces are priceless, don't you think?"

Naruto had to admit that the confused look on Sai's face was pretty amusing. "So why is it the perfect chance again?"

"Because if a human is tired, they are easier to fool. Not only that but it helps hide our presence."

"How?"

"Well, usually we do this trick to humans who are just going to bed or are already nodding off. That way, when they see our illusions, they assume it's a dream they're having. If a human thinks they're dreaming, they won't bother to go and look for us. It makes it easier on us."

"Oh, that makes sense, I guess."

Inside the building, Sai was staring back at his reflection, very confused. It was as if a mirror had been placed before him. In fact, his reflection copied everything he did. Was this a mirror? He reached out to touch it and the clone pulled away. What in the world was going on? This couldn't have been a genjutsu, could it? No, he had just performed several removal techniques to no avail. This wasn't a genjutsu. And nothing was happening. If this was an enemy's doing, this clone would be attacking him or something. Instead, it was just standing there.

"What is going on?"

The clone smiled at him. Was this how he looked when he smiled at people? He looked pretty friendly, he had to admit. Then the clone pointed down.

Sai looked at the ground. The floor opened up and the floorboards fell into a dark abyss. Automatically, Sai flinched and threw his arms out, expecting to fall into this seemingly bottomless pit. But no such thing happened. He was standing in mid-air. He wasn't falling, even though the floor was gone. Sai kept his arms out and kept his knees bent, just in case. He felt as if he could fall at any minute.

His clone walked over to him, still smiling. It stopped in front of him and held out his arms so his body formed a T. Then the clone willingly fell backwards and fell into the darkness below. Sai watched his clone disappear, swallowed up by the nothingness, and felt even more confused than before. What in the world was happening? What was going on?

He didn't want to move, fearing he would, too, fall into the floor and become nothing. He looked around the room, hoping to find something that would help him. Perhaps a rope or a table he could jump to and hold on.

The ground began to move and squirm. Something with large eyes was looking back at him. Without thinking about it, Sai quickly moved his feet as it came closer. Sai was running in the air. The creature swam in the darkness, coming closer and closer. It leapt from the ground and went straight for him. Sai lost his balance and fell onto the bed behind him. Sai quickly pushed the blankets away and drew his knife.

The creature was gone and his room was back to normal. "Huh?" He looked around. Everything was in its place, just as he had left it. He was sitting up in bed with his knife drawn, staring around his room. "Was... that a dream? Did I dream that whole thing?"

While Sai racked his brain to figure this out, Naruto and Seki were laughing their heads off on the wall.

"That was great!" laughed Naruto. "Did you see his face?"

"I know! Great, huh?" Seki started walking across the wall, jumping over Naruto to take the led. "Come on. Let's find Aurora and get out of here before we're caught."

"Yeah, ok." Naruto walked behind him, still thinking about Sai's reaction. That was great! Naruto hoped he could pull off an illusion like that soon. His kitsune training was going so well, he had a feeling he could master it pretty soon.

Inside the palace, Sakura was pacing her room, dwelling on the events that transpired at dinner. "I can't believe Naruto can be that stupid! Does he really think that..?"

Sakura turned the other direction, pacing faster. She couldn't sleep, she was so upset. Muttering and pacing seemed to be the only thing keeping her from going to Naruto's room and beating him senseless. She would probably sleep a lot better if she did.

"Who does Naruto think he is, butting into my life, huh? Since when is he my keeper? Hmph! What a jerk! The prince is nice to me and he starts calling him a pervert! Stupid jerk! If Naruto's so jealous, why doesn't he try being nice to me like that? Yeah! He could treat me like a princess for a change and maybe say nice things to me like that. And he turns around and finds fault with the prince? Ha! The guy's been nothing but the perfect gentleman. Naruto, you're such an idiot! A stupid jerk!"

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She saw Naruto's face right in front of her, yelling about the prince and how she was too stupid to see what he truly was.

"I'm stupid?! Me?! He's the stupid jerk! At least the prince has never called me stupid! Who does Naruto think he is? Stupid jerk! Stupid jerk!"

The image of him came back into her mind and heard him say those words loud and clear. She couldn't take it anymore. She was so angry. Sakura picked up the closest object she could find, a bookend, and threw it out the open window and into the yard. "Stupid jerk!"

From out of nowhere, a bookend came flying and beaned Naruto in the head. He yelped and fell off the wall and landed in the yard.

Inside the house, Sakura saw the fox fall and gasped. "Oh! Oh, my gosh!" Thinking she had just killed an innocent animal, she ran out of the room and into the yard. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

Naruto whimpered.

"Poor thing..." Sakura picked him up and carried him into the building where she could treat him. She set the animal down where the light was better and started to heal the bump on its head. Now that she got a good look at it, she realized what she had just injured. "A fox?"

Naruto opened his eyes, the throbbing going down. He looked up and saw Sakura kneeling over him. He yelped again and started to back away frantically.

"No, no! It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

Naruto remained silent and kept himself low to the ground. If Sakura discovered the curse, she would receive it, too. He couldn't let on that he was her teammate. He couldn't let her know who he was. He had to get out of here before she found out.

Sakura lowered herself to the floor and clicked her tongue. "It's ok. Come here," she called sweetly. Sakura had never spoken to him like that before. It was almost impossible to refuse. "Come on. Come here."

Naruto moved very slowly over to her, dragging his belly along the floor. Sakura reached out and stroked his head. It felt so good. Naruto moved closer and she picked him up. Sakura held Naruto in her lap and finished healing his injury.

"Good boy, good boy," she kept telling him while she stroked his fur. "Wow, your fur is so soft."

This was a dream come true! Naruto had fantasies of Sakura petting him and holding him in her lap like this. Only he wasn't a fox in any of those fantasies, but a human being. Maybe in a fancy robe while she also fed him grapes, but that was beside the point. He had always wanted this. Finally, some attention from Sakura. And it was positive! For once she wasn't beating him up when she touched him. He loved having her stroke his fur and coo sweet things in his ear.

She picked him up and scratched behind his ear. Naruto grinned happily at her. It felt great! "What a good boy, you are," she told him. "Amazing. Usually foxes aren't this tame. I never thought I would get so close to one like this and be able to treat you like a pet."

Naruto couldn't help it. This may have been his only chance. He leaned forward and tried to give her a kiss.

She wouldn't let him. Suddenly, Sakura was holding him close to her face, no longer smiling. She was looking in his eyes. His familiar blue eyes. "Wait a minute..." She moved closer, frowning. "Naruto?"

He gulped. He tried to look innocent. She still didn't know for sure. She was just guessing. As long as he didn't say anything, as long as he didn't do anything that would give himself away, he would be fine. Nothing would happen.

"Hmm." Sakura didn't look too pleased. She must have thought Naruto had transformed himself into something cute so that he could get some affection from her. Then she tapped his forehead. "Release!" When nothing happened, she yanked on his tail and pinched his skin. Naruto yelped in pain. "Sorry!"

Now convinced this couldn't have been Naruto, she went back to rubbing him. She was so sure it could have been him. Those looked like his eyes. When he didn't change back, no matter what she tried, she knew it couldn't have been him transformed. She must have been mistaken.

Sakura turned and looked out into the yard. A second fox was standing there watching them. "Is that your friend?"

Naruto stood up and moved closer to the yard. Seki was waiting for him.

"Ok, go on. Go with your friend."

Naruto looked back at Sakura then quickly went outside and followed Seki as he ran from the yard.

Sakura watched them go, convinced it couldn't have been Naruto. Seeing a second fox watching them proved to her that it must have been a normal fox. The second one didn't go inside nor did it attempt to approach her. These must have been wild foxes and that second one was looking for its friend but was too fearful of humans to get any closer.

"I guess it's just a regular fox."

On the plus side, Sakura had gotten over her anger and could get some rest now.

Once they were off the grounds, Seki turned to Naruto and asked, "What were you thinking? You can't get near humans."

"Sorry. But she-"

"Even if she's your friend and teammate, she's still a human. What if you gave away any hints of who you really are? She could get cursed, too. You can't risk it. Even if she's your friend, you can't get near her when you're in this state. Got it?"

"Uh-huh. Got it."

"Not only that, but if you're quiet, she'll think you're just an animal and she might try something or hurt you. She could have called for help thinking you were wild and dangerous. You have to be careful, Naruto. Avoid humans while you're a fox, ok? Please."

"I got it, Seki. I won't."

Seki came closer and nuzzled the side of Naruto's head, trying to offer Naruto some comfort. "I'm just looking out for you and your friends, ok?" When Seki pulled away, Naruto could sense a deep sadness inside him. Even Seki's gold eyes looked sad and full of pain.

This wasn't just a simple warning. Something must have happened to Seki. Something awful.

"Come on." Seki looked back and saw Aurora bounding up the road after them. "Let's get back."

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Sakura woke Naruto up for breakfast the next morning. Naruto wasn't as tired as he was yesterday. Most likely due to the fact that his training wasn't as intense. After he left the grounds with Seki and Aurora, they went back into the forest and continued his training. Basically it was just practice. His illusions were getting a lot better. They were starting to look more solid and believable. His flames were much easier to control as well. Naruto was sure he could start using his fox fire to pull pranks on some people very soon. Maybe even as early as tonight.

It took him less time to get to breakfast than the other day. Sakura and Sai were already waiting for him. The prince was missing, but so was someone else. Neji wasn't at the table. "Is Neji sleeping in today?"

"No, I saw him head for the bathroom," said Sai.

"Try not to be a pain in the ass today, ok, Naruto?" said Sakura.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Yesterday you kept sneaking off to sleep. Neji had to keep coming after you."

"Well, who asked him to do that?"

"He was just trying to help you. Believe it or not, he was right to do what he did. If you sleep during the day, you won't be able to sleep at night. It makes perfect sense."

Naruto tried to ignore her.

"The point is, you were a real pain the other day. Try not to annoy him, ok?" she went on. "Don't make things more difficult. You really got on his nerves. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still a little upset about it. You were acting like such a little kid. He's probably still pissed off."

As if on cue, Neji walked into the dining room and sat down at the table. He lifted his head and smiled at everyone. "Good morning."

Naruto's eyebrow raised. Neji seemed unusually cheerful today. Even when Neji did smile, it wasn't usually this bright. His smile didn't go away, even as he poured himself some hot tea and held the cup in his hands, warming his palms.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning," commented Sakura. Apparently she noticed, too.

Neji continued to smile, unfazed by someone calling attention to it. "Yeah, I had a good night's sleep. Really good." He took small sips from his teacup.

Sai gave a similar smile. "That's nice."

Naruto watched Neji stir his miso soup absentmindedly, still smiling that same smile. What in the world happened to him last night? He wasn't used to seeing Neji this cheerful in the morning. Slightly grumpy and half conscious, yes, but this... This was just weird. Naruto half thought Neji had been replaced by a pod person, but even he knew that sounded stupid and a bit too dramatic.

"Good morning, everyone," announced the prince as he entered the room. The servants bowed and welcomed him into the room. A couple helped him to his seat at the head of the table and fixed him a warm plate and poured him a hot cup of tea. "I hope everyone is doing well."

"Yes, Prince Akio," said Sakura. "The food is so delicious."

"I have the best chefs in the land cooking all of my meals. I'm so glad you're enjoying it."

The prince and the ninja resumed eating. Then Sakura lifted her head.

"Um, Prince Akio?"

"Yes, Miss Sakura?"

"Oh, you don't have to call me miss. Just Sakura is fine, like I said."

"Of course. What were you saying?"

"Um... Do you have pets?"

Naruto paused, cheeks still packed with tofu and seaweed.

"Pets?" said Akio slowly. "What sort?"

"Oh, just anything I guess. I was just wondering if you had any pets. Like cats or something. Maybe something more exotic."

Naruto remained frozen, spoon hovering before his lips.

"Something exotic?" Akio looked like he was thinking hard. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Some people from royal families keep wild animals as pets or rare breeds. Like tigers or rare birds. I'm only asking because I thought I saw an animal outside my room last night and thought it might have been a pet of yours."

Naruto was starting to sweat.

"What did it look like?"

"Well..."

Naruto was sweating bullets. His whole body was heating up.

"It looked sort of like a dog, I think. Do you have dogs?"

Prince Akio chuckled. "Oh, no. I'm afraid not. I wouldn't have to time to care for a pet, least of all a dog. They require so much care. And that's just one of the reasons why I wouldn't have a dog."

"What's the other reason?"

"Well, uh... heh. To be perfectly honest, I may be an animal lover, but I don't really care for dogs. It's nothing against them. I've just always been afraid of getting bitten. That's all. And the way they jump around, I'm not sure what they're going to do or if they get too excited and end up nipping me and drawing blood or something."

"Oh, well I can understand that. Dogs are very friendly for the most part but sometimes even the good ones end up biting you."

"Yes. So I assure you I don't have a dog."

"Oh. Ok. Then I guess it was a stray. It didn't hang around much. It left pretty quick."

Naruto swallowed his food and let out a sigh.

"Was your soup too hot, Naruto?" asked Sai. "Your face is looking sort of red and you're sweating."

Naruto frowned. "Shut up, Sai."

"What did I say?"

"Nothing."

Prince Akio got everyone's attention a moment later. "Oh, yes! Before I forget, I have a meeting here tomorrow afternoon with some men from another land."

Neji's face became serious. "What sort of meeting? You know these men well?"

"Oh, yes. We've conducted business before."

"What sort of business?"

Akio thought. "Oh, let's see... Mostly trading. Spices and cloth, food. Even tools and information. Like how to make life easier, the best way to grow healthy plants quickly. Even possible inventions. My parents set up trade with them years ago and we've been doing business ever since. It's nothing to worry about. We meet every now and then to do the same thing. Our meetings don't take too long so it shouldn't be more than a day's time."

"Hm." Neji's mind was working hard. Naruto could tell. "They don't know you have ninja here, do they?"

"No. I got word from them the other day mentioning that they would be arriving tomorrow afternoon for business. Otherwise, we haven't spoken."

"Good. Keep it that way."

"What are you thinking, Neji?" asked Sakura.

"I think we should keep an eye on these men who are coming. Just in case. If they don't know we're here, it would make things easier. If they do attempt to try anything that could harm the prince, they won't be expecting anyone to show up to stop them."

"Oh, no, no, no," said Akio. "They wouldn't do anything like that. These men are good friends of the family. We've done business for years. I doubt they would want to do any harm to anyone here. My parents opened trade with them. Why would they want to harm me of all people?"

"With all due respect, Prince Akio, if these men are doing business with you and your family and have done so for years, there could be some hidden bitterness you're not aware of. This is just a precaution," said Neji. "Hopefully we have nothing to worry about. But just in case, I would like to keep an eye on them. Just to be sure."

Akio didn't seem very concerned at all. In fact, he seemed a little confused when Neji said he wanted to make sure these men didn't try anything. Apparently Akio thought Neji was being overly protective and a little paranoid. "Ok, if you insist. But I'm sure you're worrying needlessly."

* * *

The air was sweet and dry. Naruto inhaled deeply and looked out into the town from the hill. Neji decided to have the team go into the town again, just in case anyone had anything else to say. Naruto didn't object. He was still pretty awake and would probably sneak back for a nap a little later.

They went over to the farm just a short distance away which Naruto found very familiar. "Uh-oh." When he looked at the neat rows of vegetables, he barely noticed anything amiss. Apparently they didn't make too much of a mess last night. He only spotted one hole where the potatoes were dug up and little else. There was very little damage to speak of.

Naruto started to think about the foxes again. He thought mostly about their hunger. What must it have been like for them? They relied so heavily on the offerings and when they suddenly stopped the foxes were at a loss for what to do. There was so little food for them. There used to be a lot more foxes, too. They must have suffered a lot.

He remembered his training with the Toad Sage. Most of the time, there was little issue. He worked hard and always had enough food. Many times, they stayed at an inn and had their meals provided for them. Then they would have days where they had to train far away from people. They were constantly on the move. On those days, they would camp and had to find their own food. Naruto was smart enough to bring food with him while they traveled but when that food ran out he had no other choice but to find food wherever he could. He already knew how to fish, but when they weren't around water, there was a problem. He learned quickly which berries were good to eat as well as the other plants he found growing nearby. Most of the time Jiraiya would find something to eat for him like a rabbit or a bird so Naruto didn't have to do much. However, there were days when Naruto found himself very, very hungry. Jiraiya told him to consider it a part of his training, but Naruto started to have his doubts when he went on his third day without food. He was in so much pain and his skills weren't as sharp. Even his clones were weakening. Finally he was allowed to eat and he didn't slow down until all the food was gone, even the crumbs. He had never been so hungry before. He imagined that was what the foxes must have felt like. He only had to deal with that pain for a couple of days. They had to suffer through it every day for months, maybe even years.

"I wonder why the offerings stopped. Why would that happen all of a sudden?"

Naruto glanced up. He was in front of the stables and one of the horses was looking at him. It bucked its head up and down and seemed to smile at him.

Naruto smiled back. "Hey, Jack. How's it going?"

The horse huffed and snorted, talking to him. Naruto couldn't understand a word.

"I guess I can only understand you when I'm a fox..."

Jack snorted sadly and dropped his head. He touched Naruto's head with his and huffed in his face. Naruto patted his head. Jack was a good horse. Naruto could tell.

"I want to help Ryosuke and the others. I promised I would help them find the two-tailed fox and I will. I'll try my best. But I know there's more that I can do for them."

Jack huffed again in response.

"You don't know why the offerings stopped, do you?"

Jack shook his head and snorted.

"Didn't think so..." Naruto then had an idea. "Maybe there is something I can do for them. I think I have an idea."

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked up. It wasn't the horse that spoke. It was his teammate. Sai was standing beside him, staring. "Yeah?"

Sai looked him up and down. "Are you talking to that horse?"

"... Yes."

Sai smiled.

"What?!"

* * *

Naruto managed to slip away once again for an afternoon nap. This time no one bothered him. Not even Neji. He slept until dinner was announced. Before leaving his room, Naruto took a look around and opened the different drawers and cupboards. He found something in one of the drawers. It was a leather satchel with a large clasp and a long strap. This would come in handy. He tucked it away under his jacket and left for dinner.

The dining room was filled with scrumptious aromas that had his mouth watering even before he sat down at the table. The prince was waiting for them at the head of the table and welcomed them warmly. Naruto sat down and started eating. As he was eating, he couldn't help but notice a theme.

"Dumplings," Sakura announced happily as she sat down. "Look at them all. There are so many."

Prince Akio smiled. "Yes. I heard you mention that you liked dumplings, so..."

"This is so great! Thank you."

"My chef makes the best soup dumplings. You must try some."

Naruto was already eating them. The delicate dumplings were so tender and warm. The soup dribbled down his chin as he bit into them, his mouth overflowing with hot soup and flavor. He almost hated admitting that they were the best soup dumplings he had ever eaten. He didn't want to give the prince the satisfaction.

There were other things being served as well. The roasted duck on the table glistening like polished wood looked delicious. There were vegetables and fresh fruits as well. Biscuits and cookies, breads and something Naruto wasn't certain about. They all looked really good.

He slipped the satchel under the table and opened it. As everyone ate, keeping their eyes on the food on their plates, Naruto started to fill the bag with some of the food from the table. The fruits and vegetables and breads were the first to get stuffed inside. Then he started to cut off pieces of the duck and sneaked some into his bag as well.

"So tomorrow these men will arrive to meet with you, Prince Akio?" asked Neji.

"Yes. In the afternoon."

"I see. I think it would be best if they didn't know we were here. However, I think we should have someone on the floor in plain sight to keep a close eye on them without being noticed."

"How will you do that?"

Neji pointed. "I think at least one of us should go undercover as a servant. They can clean or serve while keeping an eye out without drawing attention to themselves. They could eavesdrop, too."

"I can do it," volunteered Sakura. "I'll go undercover and pose as a servant."

Prince Akio shook his head. "I couldn't ask that of you." He held Sakura's hand in his. "The thought of you using these fine hands of yours to scrub and polish my home is almost too much to bear. Even for a mission. You cannot risk dirtying your hands. Not someone so lovely."

Naruto clenched his teeth and his chopsticks started snapping in his hand.

Neji cleared his throat and gave Naruto a warning look. "If you break those again, you'll be eating your meals off your plate like a dog."

"What was that?"

"Don't break them. Stop breaking your chopsticks. That will be your fourth pair. Am I being clear?"

Naruto relaxed his grip ever so slightly. How in the world could Sakura tolerate that prince touching her like that? He didn't like the prince one bit.

He quickly dumped his bowl of rice into the bag and set his empty bowl down on the table.

"We need to be prepared, just in case," Neji was saying. "I propose we get up early tomorrow morning just to go over the plan again and make sure everything's set. Those of us who are not undercover must remain out of sight. We can't let them know we're here."

"But if they do mean to do me harm, wouldn't knowing that ninja were around stop them?" asked Akio.

"But only during the time we are here," said Sai. "We cannot stay here forever. Once we leave, they will try to harm you again and then no one will be around to stop them. If we stop them now then that puts an end to it and will prevent any future attacks."

"That's right. We were brought here to make sure you are safe and that whoever is threatening you is stopped."

While everyone was talking, Naruto took a handful of dumplings off the table and dumped them into the bag. It was stuffed. Now he had to sneak it out of here without anyone noticing. Hiding it under his jacket again would make his stomach look like it was bulging out now that the bag was so full.

The sun would be setting any time now. He had to get out of here.

Naruto stood up from the table.

"Where are you going?" asked Sai.

"To the bathroom. I think I ate too fast."

Sai turned away and went back to eating. Neji was still talking with the prince and Sakura had her head turned as well. Now was his chance. Naruto quickly picked up the bag and carried it out of the room close to his stomach. No one seemed to noticed.

Naruto hurried down the hall. He had to get out of sight. The bag was much heavier now. He could feel the food shifting around in the bag. A dumpling slipped out and fell to the floor. Naruto bent down to pick it up. He couldn't just leave it there. Besides, he didn't think the foxes would mind. They ate things off the floor all the time and this palace was super clean. Even the floor. Naruto's feet were moving again before the rest of his body could straighten up. His elbow bumped into something hard which rattled and creaked. A suit of armor moaned and started to tip over. Naruto pushed it back into place. Not wasting a moment, he hurried off again, bumping into a table. A vase rattled but didn't fall, but the elephant ornament tipped to one side. Naruto propped it back up and sprinted down the hall. He had to get to his room quickly.

He threw open the door and slammed it shut once he was safely inside. His window was still open. That meant he could get out quickly. Outside the sky was already darkening and then...

Naruto fell to the ground and rolled across the room. He was suddenly smaller and furrier. He couldn't stay standing as he was before. The bag fell to the ground and some dumplings and rice started to spill out. Naruto pushed them back in with his paw and tried to carry the bag to the open window. He gave the strap a tug and it tugged back. Naruto pulled again with his teeth. The bag remained stubbornly in place.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me!" The bag was too large and too heavy for him to move. Not in his fox form. Naruto pulled with all his might, dragging it across the room. It was such a struggle. "Come on! Come on!" It was slow and tedious. Finally, he made it to the window. He tried to get the bag on his back but it was next to impossible. This bag was so difficult to work with in this form. Maybe if he had some help. But who would help him now? "Damn it, I should have carried this thing out to the forest instead of going to my room first. I was too focused on getting out of sight."

With a great deal of effort, Naruto managed to push the bag out the window and jumped outside. He dragged it down the hill in his teeth. The hill made things a little easier. He squeezed through the gates and dragged the heavy bag over to the forest. It seemed to take forever. He thought about asking the other foxes to come help him carry it but he wanted to surprise them and that would defeat the purpose.

He was so relieved when he reached the forest. Though he was hidden from sight by the tall trees, the roots became the next obstacle in his path. The bag snagged on the roots, pulling him back and the tall plants seemed to grab at the bag like long leafy hands. At long last, he heard voices. With new found energy, Naruto happily dragged the bag over to the clearing in the forest where he knew they would be.

"Hey, guys!"

"Oh, Naruto's here. Naruto!"

Naruto could see them through the tree trunks and hurried. He dumped the bag in front of them and stopped to catch his breath. His jaw was killing him.

"What's all this?" asked Egao.

Naruto smiled proudly and opened the bag. He gave it a few tugs until the food came spilling out. "Ta-da!"

The foxes stared at the food. "What's this? What did you do?"

"I brought you guys some food. Don't worry. I didn't have to steal it. It was given to me and my friends for dinner and I wanted to share it with you." Naruto hoped they would like it. He hoped they wouldn't take it as some sort of insult. "I brought it for you. You guys are my friends, too, so..."

A long silence followed. Naruto was starting to worry they weren't pleased with his actions.

Then they all crowded around, wagging their tails. "This is for us?"

"Yup."

"For us?"

"Uh-huh."

Sonar and Seki took flying leaps at him and pinned him to the ground. They started nuzzling him in gratitude. "You are awesome! Amazing, Naruto! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

The other foxes joined in thanking him. Naruto was surrounded by warm fur caressing his body. What a nice feeling. They barked and cheered and started eating. Their noisy chomping and slurping sounds were all the thanks he needed to hear. They were happy. Finally they had food.

Ryosuke stepped beside him and nudged him with his face. "You did this for us?" Ryosuke was smiling. He seemed so greatful.

"Well, yeah. I mean you guys are training me and I do think of you guys as friends. I knew you didn't have enough to eat so I just thought..."

"Thanks."

Naruto smiled.

Ryosuke sat down and watched his friends eat. There was enough to go around and everyone seemed very happy and content with what they were given. Tonight they didn't have to raid, they could actually enjoy a warm meal provided by a friend and a fellow fox. "It hasn't been like this since the offerings stopped. This was how it used to be."

Naruto looked at the group. "So this is how it was before?"

"Yeah. Everyone was happy and there was enough food to go around. We didn't have to raid the town, digging through trash for scraps or risk getting beaten by the farmer. We were given food much like this and everyone, even the humans, were at peace." Ryosuke's smile became sad. "But that stopped years ago. The offerings stopped around two years ago. What bothers me the most is that we still have no idea why."

"If the humans gave you the offerings, why don't you ask them?"

"Some humans freak out when we talk. Some try to kill us on sight. Sometimes both. Believe me, we've tried." Ryosuke's smile became one of joy again. "But it's nice to see things as they used to be. Even if it's just for tonight."

Naruto wanted to help. "I can get you some more food tomorrow night."

"But what happens when you leave? You're only here for a mission, right?"

That's right. Once he left, things would go back to the way they were before he arrived. Naruto still had that other promise he made to help them find the two-tailed fox. There was so much to do.

"And besides, won't you get in trouble for taking the food from the prince's table? I know that's where the food came from." Ryosuke gave him a knowing look. "You carried it to us in a bag, not on plates. Which means this was done without anyone else knowing. You really think you can keep that up?"

Naruto believed he could, but a part of him knew tonight he was just lucky. Not only that but he still didn't know everything about being a kitsune. Not just his fox magic training, but their hardships. There was a lot more he wanted to learn.

"Hey, Ryosuke."

"Yeah?"

"I want you to train me."

"We're already-"

"Not just fox magic. I want to know how to be a kitsune. The whole package. That includes how you guys get food every night. There's still so much I don't understand. So much I want to learn. And I know it will make me better, too." It was high time he learned some new skills. Anything could help him in battle. If something didn't work, he would find another way. He always did. He kept trying and never gave up no matter what. This was just another one of those things. If weapons were useless, he would use jutsu. If jutsu didn't work, then he would use his fists. So if human didn't work then...

Ryosuke gave him a hard look. "Are you sure you want to do this? Your fox magic training isn't even finished yet and you want to take on another project?"

"Yeah, I do!"

Ryosuke couldn't turn him down. "Alright. Consider it done. We'll teach you everything."

Naruto was ready for this. He wanted this. He knew it would help him. In more ways than one.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

When Naruto asked Ryosuke and the other foxes to train him in more than just fox magic he had no idea just how much it involved. There was so much more than he thought there would be. He thought hunting would be a cinch. Go into the forest and grab something. It wasn't that easy. The first step was learning how to read the terrain. He already knew some of it because of his ninja training, but this was a lot more involved. There were different paths to take and so many animal tracks to decipher. He had to keep down wind of any animal they came across and walk lightly without making a sound. He learned how to pounce on an animal and how to dig. He had to dive into the hole to flush out the animal. Naruto bashed his head many times trying to get it right.

"Keep your paws tucked close to your body. Tuck your head, too. Not too much," Ryosuke would tell him. "Use your ears. Rotate them to pick up a sound. Keep perfectly still. They'll sense you. Use your back legs. No, really bend them. Further than that. That's it. Just like that. Now jump. No, no. Straight up then into an arch. That's good."

This was a lot harder than he thought. To make matters even harder, most of the animals were sleeping at this hour making it even harder to hunt. They had to go after nocturnal animals. Owls were fair game. Naruto learned how to climb in his fox form. He couldn't go straight up a tree trunk. He had to find a tree with a twisted trunk or one that grew at an angle. His claws made grabbing branches easier, but there was no substitute for hands. When he tried to grab an owl, it took off before he even got close. He tried jumping after it, trying to catch it in flight, but ended up falling to the ground. The owl got away easily.

"Not so easy, is it?" asked Sonar.

"I never thought it would be," admitted Naruto.

He kept trying. When one thing didn't work, he tried another. He got tips from the other foxes and tried to do as they advised. Hunting was so hard! He had been trying for hours and never caught a thing. Even small game like mice were impossible to catch. They squeezed into holes in the ground or under tree roots.

Ryosuke took him deeper into the forest where the mice liked to gather. Naruto spent the next hour chasing mice. After running in circles and bumping into large rocks and shrubs and trees, Naruto only had a mouse tail to show for it. He tore it off the mouse's body and the rest of it got away. Ryosuke then took him to another area Naruto hadn't seen before. It was a small stream hidden by large trees and bushes.

"Drink," Ryosuke told him.

Naruto bent down and lowered himself to the water. The ground was damp and fragile under his paws. It shifted slightly under his weight. Nevertheless, he remained rooted and leaned in for a drink. The moment his opened his mouth to drink, water flowed into his nose and he sprang back coughing. Without a canteen, normally Naruto would cup his hands and drink that way. But without hands, how was he supposed to drink without getting water in his nose? He tried using his tongue the way he saw dogs drink all the time. That only allowed him to taste the water, not drink. Not the way he wished. He had run for so long his throat was burning and wanted nothing more than to cool it.

"Use the back of your tongue," instructed Ryosuke.

"What?"

"The back of your tongue, Naruto. Use it as a cup for the water. Lap it up that way."

Naruto looked back at the water. His tongue was a lot thinner now and more flexible. He gave it a try. It worked! It was much easier to drink now and he didn't get any water up his nose. He lapped up gulp after gulp of cool refreshing water. When he was finished, he sat back and panted.

Ryosuke was smiling at him as if Naruto had just discovered the answer to a tough riddle. "Good."

Naruto caught his breath and spoke to Ryosuke. "There aren't a lot of animals around here. Is this what you have to go through every night?"

"That's why we raid the farm and the trash cans the humans leave outside at night." Ryosuke turned his head and started to walk away slowly, expecting Naruto to follow. "Let's try hunting again. Where the mice gather. One more time and then we'll stop for the night."

"I can't catch those things," Naruto complained. "I don't get it. When I'm human, it's no problem. It's hard, sure, but I could catch at least one of them."

"That's why we're trying again. Come on."

Ryosuke took him back to the area where they had last seen the mice. Ryosuke flushed them out and Naruto was once again chasing mouse after mouse in the dark. They scurried and zigzagged and hid under bushes and stones. "I can't get them!" Naruto slammed his paw down hoping to catch hold of one of their tails. He missed every time or they would slip out from under his paw. "They're too..!"

"That's a human complaint!"

"Huh?" Naruto paused. He watched Ryosuke chase after one of the mice that had slipped free and pounced on it, catching it in his mouth. Naruto watched him silently. The mouse he had been trying so hard to catch was now in Ryosuke's mouth, dead and motionless.

"This is how it's done," said Ryosuke. "That is your problem. You're trying to catch them in your paws. You're still thinking like a human. You are a fox now so act like one. This is how we do it. We run with our paws and grab with our teeth. Use your mouth. Use your jaws. Those are your tools. Use them."

He was right. Naruto had been trying to catch them with his paws the entire time, as if he still had hands to grab with. He was hunting all wrong.

"I saw you dragging that bag into the forest, Naruto. You were using your teeth. That was good. Now use it here to grab." Ryosuke dangled the dead mouse in front of Naruto. "Take it from me."

Naruto looked at the blood soaked mouse in disgust. "Uh..."

"You wished to be trained. You wanted to learn what it was to be a fox. Are you going back on your word?"

Naruto frowned with determination and anger. "I never go back on my word! I'll do it. I still want to learn."

"Good. Then take it."

Naruto moved in and opened his mouth. He grabbed the mouse's head between his teeth and pulled. It was like biting into a candy truffle with a hard, crunchy shell. The taste, however, was very different and far worse. He mouse oozed blood and crunched. Naruto wanted so much to spit it out but he had to persevere. He wasn't going to give up. He never gave up on anything in his life. He could do this.

Ryosuke tugged back nearly taking it out of Naruto's mouth. Naruto pulled back and Ryosuke pulled downward. They were in a tug-of-war. Finally, the mouse snapped in half and Ryosuke had the prize. The majority of the mouse was in his mouth which he then ate. Naruto had the head in his teeth which he promptly dropped on the ground.

"That is your piece, Naruto. Eat it if you like."

"Uh... no thanks."

Ryosuke scooped it up and ate it himself. "With there being so little food, we eat everything, including the head. Remember that. Don't waste."

"Got it."

Ishi and Sammi came from the bushes with mice in their jaws. "We managed this much. Should we bury them?"

"Yes, in case there's too few tomorrow."

Naruto tilted his head. "What do you mean bury?"

"We bury any leftovers we have for later," answered Sammi. "That is how we save food."

"Oh, ok." Naruto made a mental note of that.

Aurora came next. She wasn't carrying any mice. "So how's his first night of hunting going?"

"I'm getting better." Naruto gave her a smile as if he had something to be proud of. In truth, he was. He was proud of himself. He was improving.

She chuckled. "Glad to hear it. You want to stop for the night?"

"No, I can keep going."

"Are you sure? Will you have enough energy for your ninja stuff in the morning? You need rest."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm thinking it will be fine. Neji wasn't on my back as much today. He was in a good mood."

Aurora grinned. "You're welcome."

Naruto tilted his head giving her a puzzled look. "Hm? What do you mean? You had something to do with his mood? How?"

She chuckled again. "Well... when you said he had been really grumpy and yelling at you and all, I figured he needed a sort of... release."

Naruto cocked his head again.

"You know? A female can help a man release. Take away some stress. Give him a pleasurable night."

Naruto took in her words one at a time and tried to make sense of them. When it finally sunk in, Naruto's eyes widened and his ears pointed upward. "Wait a minute. You mean you..? Did you..? With Neji?"

Aurora smiled and chuckled yet again.

"Ew!" Naruto tried covering his ears with his paws, unwilling to hear anymore. Now he was trying to block several images from his mind. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Gross! How could you do that?! You're and he's..! Ahh!"

"Relax, you dope!" she shouted over him. "I said shut up! I didn't touch him!"

Naruto stopped screaming. "Say what?" Now he was confused. "But I thought you said that you..."

"I did." She smiled again. "In a dream."

Naruto was so confused. "Huh?"

"Remember when I sneaked away from you two the other night? I found his room and he was asleep, so I gave him a dream I thought would help him de-stress a little. You know what men like."

"So that's why you were asking what Neji looked like." Naruto frowned. "I'm still confused. So you made him dream that he was... with a girl?"

"Relax, it was nothing R rated. I just had a girl love him in the dream and cuddle him and kiss him. The usual. I figured his mood would improve if he had a nice dream like that. I'll spare you the details."

"How? How did you make him dream that?"

Aurora smiled proudly. "With dream manipulation, of course."

"Dream what? What's that?"

"It's another fox technique," said Ishi. "You don't know that?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. How does it work? Can you teach me? I want to do it, too. Show me how!" This sounded interesting. If it was what he thought it was, Naruto knew he would have a lot of fun with it.

"Oh, it's easy," said Aurora. "I can show you how."

Ishi gave her a gentle shove. "No way! You always do those stupid flirty dreams on men. Plus, you don't explain it right. You lack patience."

"So what if I do?"

"I'll show you how it's done." Ishi stepped forward. "It's easy once you know what you're doing."

Naruto was very excited. "So? So? What do I do?"

"It's sort of like projecting an illusion into someone's mind. Basically, you're forcing them to dream what you want them to dream. It's a lot of fun."

"Sounds it. How do you do it?"

They went to the palace for a victim. Naruto was all for pulling pranks on his friends. He didn't care. Besides, it sounded like a riot. He couldn't wait to give it a try. He went with Ishi and Seki. They led him up the same path from the night before and onto the wall. Ishi looked through the window for a victim. Finally, he settled on Neji who was fast asleep in his bed.

"Perfect. He'll do fine." Ishi turned to Naruto. "It's important to make sure the person is asleep otherwise it won't work. Dream manipulation only effects people who are asleep."

"And it all stops when the person wakes up," added Seki. "So make sure you don't give the person a nightmare if you expect them to stay asleep for a while."

Naruto nodded his head. "Ok. Got it. Now what do I do? How do I use it?"

"Controlling your fox fire, send a small flame into their room and hover it just above their head. Don't touch them with it, but make sure it's not too far away. The closer the better, but not too close."

"What happens if it touches the person's head?"

"Usually, it startles them and they wake up. I've heard rumors that if the flame touches their head, the image you're sending them is burning into their minds, but that's just something the elders say. I've done it once just to see and it's not true. Not that I'm aware at least."

"The point is, don't do it," said Seki.

Naruto nodded again. "Ok. I'll give it a try." Naruto conjured up a ball of flame and held it in his paw. His control was practically perfect. He sent it forward and into Neji's room. He held it in place over Neji's head, lowering it inch by inch until it was almost touching his forehead. "This good?"

"Great. Now you can manipulate his dream."

"Ok." Naruto paused. "Uh... how do I do that?"

"Get an image in your mind," said Seki. "Imagine it, picture it. It's just like a daydream or picturing what you're about to do before you do it. You just have to think about it. Picture what you want him to see."

"I just have to think about it?" Naruto was willing to try. He imagined it was no different from creating a sexy clone or fantasizing. He hoped it would be that simple. So far everything he had learned about fox magic he could relate to ninja arts. He concentrated. He already knew what he wanted Neji to dream about. "I know. I'll make him dream he's in a duel with Bushy-brow and losing."

The flame flickered over Neji's head. Naruto hoped that meant it was working. He got a clear picture in his mind. He pictured Neji and Lee fighting in a field. He focused on Lee. He imagined him coming at Neji at full force and pushing him back with a powerful kick. Neji punched Lee back but Lee was so strong he couldn't feel Neji's punch. He kicked Neji in the gut, making him stumble back. Now they were boxing each other. Neji was on the losing side. He couldn't keep up with Lee's speed or his power. He was too strong.

"How can I tell if it's working?" asked Naruto.

"Keep an eye on his reactions. We can't see what he's dreaming. No one can. You have to imagine everything and hope for the best."

That sounded a little less thrilling. Naruto looked into the room and watched Neji closely. He noticed Neji was starting to frown. He must have been effected by the manipulation. Naruto concentrated and made the battle between them more intense. He allowed Neji to have only one good hit to give him hope of victory. After that, however, Lee was dominating the battle.

In bed, Neji was starting to moan and his fingers twitched.

From the wall, Naruto smiled. "It's working." He concentrated hard on the images he poured into Neji's mind. Lee was dominating him. One blow after another came flying at Neji's body and he was powerless to push back. All he could do was block.

Neji was frowning from his bed. His moans grew louder. His arms were starting to move, his dream self starting to effect his real body. Now he was starting to act out the dream, desperately fighting back against his teammate. His arm jerked, trying to throw a punch at Lee in the dream. His legs were moving, too, trying to gain some ground.

This was pretty funny. Naruto thought this was all very amusing. However, after a few more minutes of this, Naruto decided to give Neji a break and allowed him to land a few hits on Lee in the dream. Neji was beginning to calm down but he still had a serious look on his face as he slept.

"How do I turn it off?" Naruto asked.

"There's nothing to turn off, really," said Ishi. "Just stop using the technique and may the chips fall where they may."

"What does that mean?" Naruto looked from Ishi to Seki.

"It means that dreams change. Once you stop manipulating his dream, your friend will still be dreaming this until he changes it himself. That's just how dreams work. Surely you've had those kinds of dreams before."

Naruto thought about it. "You mean like how one minute I'm walking in the dream and the next I'm at a table and how people come and go all the times in the dream and no one seems to notice?"

"Sort of, yeah. Once you stop manipulating his dream, your friend gains control again and can dream whatever he wants. If he wants to finish this dream then that's his choice. Other people move on to a new dream. Some finish the dream we gave them only they finish it their way. You can't stop him from dreaming."

"Oh, so that's how it works. Ok." Naruto dropped his paw and let the flame above Neji's head go out. Soon Neji's face relaxed and turned over in his bed. "I wish I could see what he was dreaming..."

"That would be dream walking and we can't do that until we gain a new tail." Ishi grinned. "But hey, your first try. Nice job. You're good at this."

"He's a fast learner," praised Seki. "I knew Ryosuke liked him for a reason."

As they left the palace, Naruto chuckled slightly. "Most of you guys didn't seem too thrilled with me in the beginning."

"That's just because most humans are mean to us. They hunt us, beat us. You saw the farmer," said Ishi.

"Yeah, but we were raiding his crops."

"We had little choice. You see what it's like for us." Ishi sighed. "We really did depend on those offerings. It was the prince's family who started it in the first place. They decided to make peace with us many years ago. In exchange for leaving the town and the people in peace, they would leave us food every night. That was the arrangement. I have no idea why it stopped. Even the prince enforced it."

That was bizarre. Why would they suddenly stop like that? Every fox was effected by this and none of them knew why this was happening. Naruto was very determined to find out why.

When the group met up in the forest, Naruto spoke again. This time, addressing Ryosuke. "I get the offerings thing. I know you need them. But aren't you worried that if you don't hunt you'll get rusty or something? Maybe the humans thought you guys were becoming too dependent on the offerings."

The other foxes exchanged looks. Aurora and Egao looked insulted, as well as Sammi.

Ryosuke led Naruto to a bush and sat down beside it and ordered him to do the same. "Naruto, look at this bush. Do you see any berries on it?"

"No."

"Because we ate them all. Now we must wait for them to grow back. They take time. If we eat them all in one night, we can't expect to go back to the same bush the next night for more. It's the same rule for the animals we hunt. If we eat them all, there will be none left. The population is already low because of this. If we eat any more, they will all be gone. We have to give the other animals time to breed so they can make more and build the population."

Naruto nodded. "So it's a food chain deal kind of thing. You keep the population in check."

"There's more to it than that." Ryosuke gestured to the forest. "You noticed no doubt how few animals there are here. A part of that is because we've been eating them. But there's another reason."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Lack of food. When we do no eat animals, we eat plants. Foxes are omnivores. We ate plants and animals. So we're in competition for food all the time with the other animals that live here. There simply isn't enough to go around. So due to the lack of food, a lot of animals have moved on to other lands. They go to where the food is. Because of that, there is even less for us to eat as well. If we must wait for the plants to grow back and the animals have fled the land, what are we to eat?"

Now it all started to make sense.

"That's why the offerings were so important," added Sonar. "We didn't need to eat as much, so the plants were given enough time to grow and there was enough for the other animals to eat. They could eat their fill, have offspring, feed them and we would be able to eat them to keep the population in check without wiping them out. We ate less because of the offerings."

"And the offerings are just table scraps," said Ishi. "It's what the humans do not want anyway. We ate the food they would waste, the animals had enough to eat, and the humans were left in peace. Everybody wins."

It all made sense. Everything worked out. "So without one thing, the food chain falls apart. All this mess because of..." Naruto was getting just as upset as the foxes. "The humans knew this, right? Then why would they stop?"

"Again, we don't know," said Ryosuke. "We're still trying to figure that out."

"Plus, every time we get close to a human, they always attack us so we can never ask. Even when we do try our best in asking, the humans will not answer or claim they do not know themselves."

No wonder the foxes were so upset. Naruto was getting worked up, too. He wanted more than ever to know the answer. Before he left this town, he had to find the answer.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Naruto returned to the palace as the first light of the day started to creep over the treetops. He squeezed through the open window to his room and plopped down on the wooden floor just as his body began to grow back to its human shape. Naruto gave his body a shake and looked at his hands. They were covered in dirt. Even his face had dirt on it. He really, really wanted a bath.

Naruto went straight to the bathroom and drew himself a hot bath. As the water was filling the tub, Naruto covered himself in soap and scrubbed himself down. Pieces of dead leaves fell to the floor by his feet and clumps of dirt soon turned the sparkling tiled floor brown. Naruto rinsed himself off and climbed into the hot tub. He sank into the water and relaxed.

The offerings stopped roughly two years ago for no apparent reason. Naruto had to figure out why. He had also promised to find out what happened to Reevo. Could they be related? According to the kitsune, Reevo left the group once he became a two-tails and never came back. That was years ago. Reevo was also cursing anyone who came close to finding out his identity.

Naruto sank into the water up to his ears. The sensation made him shiver and he lifted his head.

"Let's see..." he said to himself. "Reevo always wanted to live as a human because he thought they had a better life. He wanted to take things easy. But he is a fox by nature. It wouldn't be easy for him to become a human. Not live as one, at least. I mean, would he know how to live as one? Like cook for himself or clean or maintain a house? I don't think so. Hey, I can barely do that."

No. If Reevo was living as a human, he would have to choose carefully. He could only take on the form of an already existing human. He couldn't make up his own form. Then what to do with the real human he assumed the form of? He would have had to use his curse to get them out of the way. The questions was, what human's form did he take? It had to be someone who wasn't easily missed. It also had to be someone who had an easy life. Someone who had things done for them all the time so there wasn't much left for them to do. Someone who had someone else taking care of them. An easy life...

"Wait a minute. What if..?" Naruto's eyes widened. "What if it's... the prince?"

Naruto nearly jumped out of the water.

"Of course! That has to be it. The prince has such an easy life. He has servants doing everything for him. He gets to live in a plush mansion with servants and guards and everything. He's got people doing everything for him. He gets waited on all the time. He doesn't have to do anything. Someone else makes him food and brings it to him, he gets to live in a huge house, he gets everything he wants! That has to be it. He has to be the prince. I knew there was something not right about him."

Now his biggest issue was how to prove it. If he just went up to the prince and told him that he knew, he would end up being cursed. Then again, he already was. Maybe the second curse would be even worse! He couldn't let on that he knew. He had to be careful and play it cool. He was good at bluffing. He could do that.

"But how do I prove it?" Naruto snapped his fingers with an idea. "I've got it. Foxes only appear at night. They're nocturnal. And if he's anything like me, he'll turn into a fox at night." Naruto gasped. "That must be why he goes to his room every night at sunset! He's assuming his true form. So he is like me. He turns into his fox form at night. No wonder he goes to his room and orders that everyone stay away. No one, not even is servants, are allowed into his room at night. Not even in that wing. That has to be it."

He had it all figured out. Tonight when he turned into a kitsune, he would sneak into the prince's room and catch him in his fox form. Then he would know for sure and have his proof.

Naruto finished soaking in the tub and climbed out to plan. He wrapped himself in a fuzzy robe and dashed into the hallway. He bumped into someone on his way out. "Oof!"

"Ow!" Neji jumped back, glaring. "That was my foot you just stepped on."

"Sorry."

Neji looked Naruto up and down. "You're up with the sun."

"Uh, yeah."

"Good. We're going to have an early breakfast and have one final meeting before anything else."

"Anything else what?"

Neji frowned. "Those men are coming here this afternoon to meet with the prince."

"What men..? Oh, those men!" Naruto had nearly forgotten. To be honest, he was still thinking about the prince. He couldn't care less about the men who were coming over today.

"We have to meet quickly and stay low, just in case they arrive early. We can't take any chances."

"Uh-huh, got it." Naruto hurried around him and went back to his room. As he fished around in his bag for some clean clothes, his shoulder throbbed. "Ouch..." Naruto gave his shoulder a rub. His body was starting to feel very sore from last night's adventures. "Maybe I should have soaked longer to ease this."

As he got dressed, he thought more about how he was going to expose the prince for the kitsune he was. He had to be very careful so the prince wouldn't know he was on to him and curse him and his teammates. He had to be subtle. Maybe if he tempted the prince with a fox's favorite food he would give something away. Then again, foxes ate just about anything so that might not work. Maybe a behavior trick would do something.

"Hm. Well, foxes don't like dogs and neither does the prince, so maybe if I made barking sounds... Nah, that's stupid."

Everyone met for breakfast in the dining room and went over the plan while they waited for their meal. Naruto had to put these thoughts on hold while the meeting was going on. That was easier said than done. Throughout breakfast, Naruto kept a watchful eye on the prince, waiting for him to give something away.

"So Sakura will pose as a maid and eavesdrop. In the meantime, Sai, Naruto and I will keep watch from afar. You have guards posted everywhere, don't you? Even during meetings?"

"All the time. Even during meetings," said prince Akio. The servants arrived carrying trays of food and drinks. The prince sat back as the servants placed their meal on the table. "Thank you very much. It looks wonderful."

Naruto looked down at the dish set before him. His mouth opened at the familiar sight and delicious aroma. "Ramen?"

The prince smiled. "Sakura's request. It seems she was troubled by you not enjoying many of our meals so she asked for this to be made for you. How thoughtful."

Naruto looked across the table at Sakura who met his eyes for a moment then looked down at her bowl not even trying to hide her grin. Naruto smiled and picked up a pair of chopsticks. He started with the noddles as he often did and slurped them up. The noodles were well made and the broth was flavorful.

"Are you enjoying it?" asked Akio.

Naruto had to give him an answer. "It's good." And damn it, it was. It would have made everything easier if the ramen was bad. Still, it wasn't the best he ever had. For that he was thankful.

The prince raised his glass and looked to Sakura while he addressed the whole group. "A toast to your mission and good fortune. May you all be safe and successful."

"Uh, sure." Sakura held up her glass. "Cheers."

Human and fox touched their glasses and a soft clink rang out, sending ripples through the water. Sakura drank without hesitation. The prince watched her for a moment before taking a sip from his own glass.

"So..." said Naruto. "Akio... if you're an animal lover, what's your favorite?"

He kept his eyes locked on the prince, hunting for any changes in his expression or posture.

Calmly, the prince answered, "There are many I like. It's very hard to pick just one favorite."

"Well, if you could. I mean if you really had to, what would you say?"

"Hmm. Well, I do like birds. Cats, as well. And horses. Oh, and-"

"I said if you could only pick one." Naruto was hoping he would say fox. That would have given the prince away in Naruto's opinion. He wasn't saying it. Did he know it was a trap?

"Oh, but I said it's impossible for me to pick just one animal. I love so many."

Naruto moved on to his next idea. "What's your favorite hobby?"

"I enjoy reading. Tending to plants as well. It's very relaxing."

"How fast can you run?"

"Not very, why?"

"No reason. So what were your parents like?"

Akio chuckled. "Oh, my parents were very kind. I loved them so. I miss them everyday of my life."

"You don't say. What kind of things did you do with them?"

"They were so busy, it was rare for me to ever get a moment with them but when we did, I didn't care what we did. I was just happy to be with them."

Sakura smiled. "That's so sweet."

"Yeah, uh-huh. So what did you do with them?" Naruto pressured. A kitsune wouldn't know the answer to these personal questions. He knew the prince wouldn't answer. Not without fumbling for an answer or a possible lie.

Without missing a beat, Akio answered, "My mother read to me when she could and my father would teach me about our family's work. He didn't do much playing with me. But when he did, it was mostly sports or board games. He taught me how to play chess. I could never beat him, not once. He was very good."

This wasn't the answer Naruto was hoping for. Then again, he could be making this stuff up.

"What about-"

"Naruto, stop bothering the prince with these questions. We have work to do," said Neji.

"I was just-"

"Not now." Neji looked at the time. "We have to make sure everyone's in place. Those men will be here in a matter of hours and we need to take into account that they might be arriving early. We can't take risks with this. We have to stay out of sight and Sakura needs to get changed."

Naruto was hoping to exposed the prince for the fox he was quickly, now it would have to wait. Maybe he could let a dog loose in the palace and see how the prince reacted. Or maybe he could use a transformation jutsu to change into one himself.

But if the prince was going to be in a meeting for most of the day, when would he have the chance to do this? It was a good thing Naruto could think on his feet. He would have a new plan in no time.

Faster than expected, noon came and with it an expensive-looking wooden carriage pulled by two large well-groomed horses. Naruto watched from the window, crouching down so only his eyes were visible. The carriage rode up to the front gate and stopped. Five men came out of the large carriage and were welcomed by the servants and brought into the palace. Naruto moved away from the window to look at Neji who was positioned in the doorway. He was as still as a statue and just as silent. Naruto returned to the window. One of the five men remained behind and left with another servant. They pulled the horses away from the carriage and out of sight, presumably taking the horses to the stable.

Neji made a sharp but quiet whistle and Naruto came running. Neji bent down and gestured for Naruto to do the same. They sat by the door, peering through the tiny gap between wood and wall. They heard voices in the hallway. One belonged to the prince, the others could only be from the other men. It was nothing worth mentioning. It was mostly small-talk. They seemed to be catching up with each other before their meeting. Even so, Neji paid very close attention.

The men and the prince went on their way down the hall. Once their voices faded away, Naruto and Neji left their hiding spot to get closer. Keeping out of sight, they followed the men around the corner and hid themselves behind suits of armor and large stone carvings mounted on expensive marble pillars. The men stopped in front of a large door and a servant opened it for them. The prince welcomed them into the room, walking in first. The men followed and the servant closed the door and walked away. Neji moved first, crouching down behind the door, trying to listen to the people inside.

"Can you hear anything?" Naruto asked him

"How can I when you're whispering in my ear?"

"So what are they saying?"

"I don't know. You keep talking."

Naruto moved away and sat with his back against the wall. There must have been another way to do this. He could always try to sneak inside the meeting room and spy on them that way. Sakura had that covered. She was disguised as a maid, cleaning the room that very moment. She had a front row seat to the action. Sai could be anywhere he wanted. When Sakura was no longer able to use cleaning as an excuse to be in that room and would therefore be asked to leave, Sai's drawings would still be there. At the moment, they were lurking in various places in the meeting room. Some in potted plants, some on the ceiling, and a few concealed under the table. Sai wasn't too far behind. He, too, was hidden somewhere in that room where no one, not even the prince, knew where he was hiding. They wanted it to stay that way. In fact, the prince wasn't even told that Sai would be hiding in the room as well. They feared he may give them away if he knew where everyone was located. The slightest motion or sidewards glance in the same location too many times could tip off the other men. In the meantime, Neji and Naruto would be positioned out in the hall.

Naruto's mind was on other things, however. He still had to expose the prince for the two-tailed fox, Reevo. He didn't think he could wait until tonight to see him in his fox form. He wanted to do it now. But how?

After a few minutes, Sakura came out of the room. She ducked around the corner to speak with Naruto and Neji without the men inside hearing them. Naruto had to admit, Sakura looked pretty cute dressed as a maid.

"What did you hear?" asked Neji in a hushed tone. "What's going on in there?"

"Not much to speak of," she admitted. "None of the men seem very hostile at all. Not one crossed word or glare or anything. So far, they're talking business. They're going over trades and negotiations. So far the only complaint they had was over how bad a year it was for strawberries. Nothing toward the prince."

"We still can't rule them out."

Sakura nodded. "I know. But still... It may be too soon to tell, but they don't seem like the kind of people who would try to hurt him. But yeah, we should keep an eye on them. Just in case."

"That's right. Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. Good work, Sakura. You did great. Now Naruto, if you and..." Neji turned around but Naruto wasn't there anymore. "Where..?"

Sakura looked up and down the hall. "He just disappeared. Where did he go?"

Neji used his byakugan to steal a peek around the building. He looked like he had just tasted something very bitter. "Oh, no."

* * *

Prince Akio continued with the meeting even after Sakura left without missing a beat. The men seated at his table continued to push papers forward and ask him questions. He answered and asked some questions of his own. So far, the meeting was going quite well. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then there was a knock at the door and in came a girl Akio had never seen before. She was dressed in a maid's uniform, however, it was a lot more provocative than the rest of the staff wore. She had big blue eyes, long blond hair and whiskers on her face which looked very similar to someone he had seen before. She came over to the table, carrying a large tray with several dishes with large silver covers and a tea pot with many teacups stacked up in a leaning tower. The tray rattled with every step she took as she bounced her way over to the table in her four-inch heels.

"Uh..."

"Who is this?" asked one of the men.

"I'm Naruina!" the girl announced cheerfully.

From his hiding place in the ceiling, Sai gave an exasperated sigh and shut his eyes to the horrors below. "Oh, God."

Down below, the maid started to serve the men drinks. "Come on, gentlemen! How's some nice hot tea sound? Perfect for this important meeting, don't you think?" She began to pour from the full, heavy teapot and slid the teacups across the table to each of the men.

Several of the men looked outraged. "Is this a proper service? This isn't a bar!"

The maid bent forward to serve the man closest to her, her large breasts jiggling in his face. "Oh! I'm sorry. I thought you liked it hot."

The man in her cleavage turned his head away to hide his nosebleed. "Is this any way to behave?!"

"Prince Akio! Is this the sort of staff you employ?"

"Uh..." It seemed the prince was at a loss for words.

Naruto grinned. He knew this maid idea was a good one. Now it was time to tempt the so-called prince with some of a fox's favorite foods and see his reaction. "Oh, my prince! You look too thin! Here, have something yummy to eat."

"I'm fine."

"Oh, but you must!" The maid shoved a dish in front of him, pulling off the silver cover. It was a bowl of fruit. Plums, apples and blueberries to be exact. Foxes loved fruit and they seemed to love these ones the most. If the prince went for it, Naruto would have his proof.

"No thank you, I'm fine."

That was no good. Time for the second dish. "Then at least try some of this! It's so, so yummy! Yum-yum good!" Naruto uncovered the second dish. On this plate was a dead snake and some mice. The men at the table jumped back, along with the prince. This wasn't the reaction Naruto was hoping for. According to the kitsune, they loved mice and snakes. Hares, too, but Naruto didn't have time to catch one of those. He barely had enough time to snatch up these before bursting into the meeting room.

"Throw that away at once!" shouted the prince. He looked disgusted. The other men shared in his disapproval.

This only further puzzled Naruto. Didn't foxes like snakes? Why would a fox act this way?

The door behind him opened and Sakura came running across the room and wrapped her arms around Naruto's waist. "I'm so sorry about her! She's not right in the head. She missed her meds today, heh heh..! Let's go!"

"But I-"

"Now!" Sakura dragged Naruto out of the meeting room, tray and all. Once outside, she clubbed him hard over the head, breaking the transformation jutsu. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I was just-"

Sakura grabbed him by the ear and dragged him down the hall. "You are such an idiot!"

She dragged him back to Neji who also gave him a stern talking to. "You could have jeopardized the mission, Naruto. What is the matter with you?"

He couldn't tell them the truth. If he revealed his true motives and told them that the prince was really a fox, he couldn't do so without also revealing that he was under a curse which would then give them the same curse. He couldn't tell them.

"I was just trying to help."

"Help by doing that?!"

Naruto didn't say anything. He knew Sakura would only beat him again if he told her the next steps of his plan, which involved him morphing into a sexy fox girl in an attempt to force the fox into its natural form or at the very least reveal in some way that he was really a fox. A reaction was all he was hoping for at this point. For example, if the prince ate the snake or at least gave it a hungry look, Naruto would have his proof.

"Sorry. I won't do it again."

"You better not."

Naruto was being reckless. He had to do a better job if he really wanted to expose the two-tailed fox.

One more shot. He wanted to give it another try before tonight. Otherwise he would have to wait until sunset and see the prince change into his real form.

After the meeting, Akio showed his guests to their bedrooms where they would spend the night. While Akio was doing that, Neji and the others met up with Sai in the meeting room. "Well?"

"Other than Naruto's outburst, nothing. None of the men showed any signs of malice and none of them threatened him. They didn't even seem to signal to each other or use code. Nothing strange."

"Where will they be staying?"

"According to the prince, they all have separate rooms on a different floor. They'll be far away from the prince and away from where we sleep as well."

"Do you still have something tracking them?"

"Yes. One of my snakes is following them. I have a couple of bugs nearby as well."

"Good."

"Their meeting went on for a while."

"Well, those things tend to go on, Sakura. The prince did say that they traveled far for this meeting which is why he offered them a room for tonight. They may try to do something then. We must be prepared. We'll keep an eye out. I want everyone in position tonight. Naruto should use some of his clones to keep watch over..." Neji turned his head. During their conversation, Naruto had sneaked away again. "Really? Again?!"

"Where did he run off to now?" asked Sakura looking more annoyed than worried.

"What the hell is that idiot thinking?" Neji seethed.

* * *

Down the hall, Naruto was putting his next plan into action. This time, he was sure to get a rise out of the prince. This transformation was perfect. He hid beside a suit of armor which had its head tilted upward, staring straight ahead. When he heard the prince's footsteps, he sprang out of his hiding place and stood before the prince.

Akio looked down at the dog standing in the middle of his hallway staring up at him. Akio was completely alone. No servant was near him and the men were stashed away in their rooms. It was just him and the dog.

The animal he, and the kitsune, hated.

This had to work. He was sure to get a reaction out of the prince this time.

Akio looked down at the dog without a word. Naruto waited. Any real kitsune would attack a dog or run from it. He was waiting for one of those reactions from the prince. Or at the very least a twitch in his face, a frown, a look of fear, something.

To his surprise, the prince grinned and spoke to the dog gently. "Hello, there. How did you get in here?"

What? Naruto thought the prince hated dogs. He said so himself. Why was the prince acting this way? Naruto had to do more than just stand there and wait for something to happen. He had to give the prince something to fear.

"Bark! Bark!" Naruto started growling and showed his teeth.

The prince backed up. "Easy, easy, doggy. Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

Naruto growled again, trying to look as ferocious as possible.

"Did I hear a dog?" A maid came up the stairs and and over to the prince. When she caught sight of the dog, she jumped. "Oh, dear! How did that dog get in here?"

"That's what I would like to know," said Akio. "Could you please find out to whom it belongs so it can go back to its owner?"

"Of course, sir. Right away. So sorry."

Akio gave the dog another puzzled look. "However you got in here... Oh, never mind. Either way, I cannot keep you. I am in no condition for any sort of pet."

"Do not get so close, my lord. It may bite you. It could have rabies."

"Not to worry. I know better. It growled at me, after all. I know when to stay away."

This was ridiculous! Was there no way to get the prince to expose himself as a fox? This was not the reaction he wanted. None of this was.

"You moron!" Sakura came up behind the dog and clubbed it over the head with her fist. The jutsu broke and Naruto changed back into his human self yelling in pain. "What part of stay out of sight do you not understand?!"

"That's why I was a dog!"

The prince and the maid looked very confused. "What is going on?"

"Sorry, Prince Akio. Naruto's just being really, really stupid. Even for him." She gave Naruto another punch.

"Ow!"

"Why a dog for crying out loud? You know the prince doesn't like them."

"That's exactly why I-" Naruto shut his mouth before he could say anymore. "I mean... I was just trying to keep an eye on him just in case those guys were... you know."

"Then try a cat or something next time. We've been through this. Stick to the plan, you idiot." Sakura picked Naruto off the ground and apologized to the prince once more. "I am so sorry about him."

"It's fine, Sakura. I was just surprised to see a dog in my home. I never have before. They really are very cute... although... I was a bit worried he would bite me. I mean, he was growling at me."

Sakura punched him again. "You tried to bite him?! What is wrong with you?! I'm so sorry, Prince Akio. I'm sure he has a few screws loose. You are an idiot, Naruto!"

"Quit hitting me!"

* * *

This was not working out at all the way he wanted. Now his teammates were angry at him, the staff kept giving him strange looks whenever they saw him pass by and whispered to each other. Not only that, but he still didn't have any proof that the prince was really a fox. He thought he would have some evidence before sunset tonight. At least he still had that. The prince would turn into a fox tonight, just as Naruto did. He was sure of it. Why else would he hide when the sun went down?

Since they had to stay out of sight, Naruto's team had to eat their meals either in their rooms or in the kitchen. The kitchen was easiest because there was no chance of a guest seeing a servant carrying a plate to a room and then have to explain where they were taking it. Sai and Neji were keeping an eye on the prince as he ate his meal with his new guests in the dining room. Naruto was stuck eating in the kitchen, hunched over a plate of food on the counter.

It was a beautiful kitchen, though. It was huge and there were many servants hard at work, even now that the meals had already been served. There were twelve burners and six large ovens which left the room smelling hot and smokey. Instead of casual dinner conversation, Naruto had to listen to the clattering of dishes and the powerful running water from the sink and the orders being barked from the chefs as they ran around the kitchen. The servants cleaned around him, scrubbing the counter with soapy sponges and rags. He felt like he was in the way but continued to eat as if it didn't bother him.

Sakura came down the stone staircase into the kitchen and stood in front of Naruto. "How you doin'?"

He shrugged.

"I'm not mad at you anymore. But you have to be smarter now to realize that what you did was so stupid. What were you thinking?"

"I thought I could get them to expose their plan," he lied.

"Just stick to the plan we made, alright?" Sakura sighed and she seemed less annoyed. "So far, things are going ok. No one's done anything. Maybe the prince was right thinking that we're being too paranoid. No one's made any attempts to hurt him or anything."

"Uh-huh." Naruto stabbed his food.

"Neji thinks something may happen tonight so be ready."

"Got it." Naruto stopped and looked down at his plate realizing something that made his heart sink. If they were expecting something to happen tonight, he wouldn't be able to help them. He would be a fox. He had to remain hidden from his friends. He also expected to expose the prince tonight. Actually, he may not have to if his friends were going to be around. They would see it for themselves.

"Naruto?"

He looked up. "I was just thinking about some stuff."

"Get your head in the game. We need you tonight, Naruto."

He nodded his head. "Yup."

Sakura smiled and touched his shoulder. "Great." She turned around and went back up the stairs.

Once she was gone, the chefs started to coo and snicker. "What?" Naruto asked.

"Isn't that cute?" said one of the chefs. "Her coming all the way down here to check up on you? She must really care about you."

Naruto's eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Sure," said another chef. "You really think she came all the way down here just to remind you about your mission? Please. It's obvious she cares about you. You know, you're lucky to have her."

Naruto looked at the stone stairs, though Sakura was already long gone. It made his chest feel warm knowing that Sakura must have really cared about him the way these men thought she did. It was true. When they were first placed in the same squad together, Sakura never showed any concern for him at all. She would have never come to check on him if he was upset. Over time, she started to become more considerate of his feelings. She started to care more about him. She had really changed from back then. Naruto was thankful for that. Sure, she punched him with a lot more force than back then, but that was different. Maybe he was focusing on that more than he was the positive. Maybe he should be more considerate of her, too.

Even when he was upset when the prince was flirting with her and he yelled at Sakura as if she were to blame. What she said never registered to him until now. She told him that she would like it very much if someone spoke to her the same way the prince did. He brought her gifts and treated her like a princess.

"No wonder she likes him..." Naruto finished his meal and stood up from the counter. He began his long walk back to his room. "I guess Sakura does have a point."

To avoid being seen, Naruto took the long way back to his room, which involved climbing through his open window rather than using the door. He looked at the orange and purple sky. Sunset was fast approaching. He had to hurry. He climbed and jumped across the roof and landed in the yard where his room was located. The men were staying in another part of the palace so there was no reason for them to be anywhere near his room. There was no danger of someone seeing him climb through the window or even be in the yard. Maybe that was why he was less alert, devoting his energy into thinking rather than looking around for enemies.

He couldn't stop thinking about the prince or his plan to expose him. Now he was also thinking about Sakura. Was he really being unfair to her or was he just over-thinking this? Why did the chefs have to open their mouths? Now he felt conflicted. He was also thinking about his mission. He couldn't stay here if he was going to change in a matter of minutes. He was also thinking about the kitune in the forest. He wasn't able to sneak food out to them tonight. He also missed his nap today. Maybe he wasn't thinking straight. He had pulled all-nighters before. He could handle this. He just had to focus on what needed to get done and do it. He just had to organize his thoughts so he wouldn't feel this way.

Naruto devoted his last thought to mapping out his plan. He knew what to do now. He had it all figured out. "I totally got this. No problem."

Naruto was so distracted, he didn't notice the hand clamp over his mouth until it was too late.

* * *

GASP!

Please review! ^-^


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Naruto was so shocked at first that he couldn't react. Then instinct took over and his body was in motion. He swung his leg back, kicking the person wrapped around his body and tried to get his arms out from their grasp. The person threw Naruto into the wall and they both faced each other for the first time.

It was a man, maybe a year or two older than Kakashi. The man was unshaven and had dark hair, the color of oil. Naruto noticed something else about the man as well. "Hey, aren't you one of the guys who came here today to meet with the prince?"

"I am," said the man. The man scanned him as if he were a pig for sale. "You're not a servant boy, are you? Not with those moves and that outfit."

Naruto remained silent.

At last, the man's gaze came to the headband fastened around Naruto's forehead. "You're a ninja from the Hidden Leaf, aren't you? I can tell. Don't deny it."

Naruto admitted the truth. "Yes, I am. And who are you? You're not a normal rich guy here for a meeting, are you? Not the way you look and the way you're out here skulking around."

"What is a Leaf ninja doing here?"

"I asked you a question!"

"First you tell me why a ninja is here at the prince's palace."

"You first. Who are you?"

The man scoffed. "You here to assassinate the prince?"

Naruto scoffed back. "No! I mean, I don't like the guy. I sort of hate him."

The man smiled. "Ah, you, too, huh?"

"Oh? You don't like him either?" Naruto spoke to him as if he were a new classmate with similar interests. "Why's that?"

"Personally, I don't know the prince very well. But he doesn't sit right with my new boss. Says there's something not right about him. He's different."

"Who's your boss?"

"The young lord you saw before. I'm just posing as one of his assistance."

Naruto frowned. "So... you're not with the lord? You're not a servant or a partner or something?"

"No. I'm an assassin for hire," the man confessed. "He hired me to do a job for him. I'm here to take the prince down."

"What? I'm not going to let you do that!"

"So you are here to protect him!"

"I said I didn't like the jerk and I do agree with you guys that he's not right. But..." Normally, Naruto could never stand by and watch someone die, even if he found them annoying and certainly not on a mission where he was supposed to protect them. But there was another reason why he couldn't let this man kill the prince. He needed the prince alive to prove that he was really a fox. Until then, he couldn't let anything happen to him. "Can't you just tie him up or something? Do you really need to kill him?"

"That's what I was hired to do. Had I known there were ninja about, I would have been a lot more careful. I was just sneaking around the back here to the prince's bedroom. Then I happened upon you and I sure as hell couldn't let you see me."

"Were you going to kill me, too?"

"No! I wasn't hired to kill you. I would have just tied you up and left you in a closet or something." The man then pulled a knife from his sash and held it firmly in his hand. "But seeing as you're a ninja, I guess it won't be that easy."

Naruto drew his own weapon and got into a fighting stance right there in the grass. "At least I get some action!" Naruto was starved for some action on this mission. He had been so bored these past few days. An assassin showing up was an ironic bit of good news he had been hoping for. Besides, this man wasn't a ninja. He should be easy to take down. This would be over quickly.

With weapons drawn, they came at each other and clashed. Naruto's kunai was nearly knocked out of his hand. This man was a lot stronger than he looked. Taken by surprise, Naruto jumped back to attack from a different angle.

"Don't take me so lightly, boy! An assassin has a different set of skills than some child ninja. Don't get cocky with me!"

They clashed again and this time Naruto showed just how strong he was. The man was expecting the skills of a child, but Naruto wasn't some rookie. Not anymore. He pushed the man's knife back and was about to disarm him. Then the man pulled a second knife from behind his back and tried stabbing Naruto in the shoulder. Naruto grabbed the man's wrist and held him back. Next, with both arms still busy, Naruto kicked the man in the stomach. As he bent backwards from the blow, Naruto ran up his chest and over his back, taking the man's arm with him. The knife fell from his left hand, but not his right. The tip of the knife cut into Naruto's cheek and he began to bleed. How behind the man, Naruto gave his arm a sharp tug and kneed him in the spine.

Even with that attack, the man did not lose his footing. He remained standing and held onto his other knife. Without turning around, the man ran forward toward the palace. That's right. Naruto was closest to the building before and now that he was behind the man, that put him closer to the palace. Naruto had to chase after him.

"Like I'll let you in! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Five clones blocked the man's path which he quickly slashed away. Naruto wasn't done yet. That was just to slow him down. He ran up and kicked the man in the back, sending him flying teeth first into the wall of the palace.

"Ha! Told you I-" Naruto jumped back to avoid the knife. "If you want to fight, then bring it!"

The man was on his feet again and tried slashing Naruto with his knife. With a quick flick of his hand, Naruto sent another kunai at the man's hand and knocked the knife from his grasp. Before it could land on the ground, the man picked it up, mid-fall, and thrust it towards Naruto's chest. Naruto blocked again and summoned up more Shadow Clones. The man had to fight them all with his one remaining knife.

One pop after another sent his clones away until there were only three left. Two managed to grab hold of the man's arms and held him down. Now Naruto could come in for the finishing blow. This would stop him and end the fight. He stood beside his third clone and gathered up their chakra and air until it form a perfect ball in his palm.

Naruto took aim at the man restrained in the grass, mere inches from the window, and lunged. It was the perfect shot. His clones were holding him in place and his final attack was ready and on target. "Raseng-"

Naruto's attack disappeared and his clones vanished. Naruto fell to the ground, covered in fur, dusk pressing at his back.

"No! Not now!" By the time Naruto looked up, he saw the man climbing in through the window. "Wait! Stop!"

The man was already in the building, paying no heed to Naruto's demands. Naruto ran toward the window and jumped, grabbing hold of the windowsill with his front paws. His hind legs scrapped the wall outside, struggling to lift Naruto up and inside. Naruto's grip failed and he fell back down. He had to try again. He ran back a few steps and took a running leap at the window. He cleared the frame and soared into the room and landed on all fours. The man was already at the door.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" he wondered aloud to himself. He couldn't use jutsu anymore, he was a fraction of his normal size and he had no weapons. Verbal threats weren't going to be enough to stop this man. "Damn it, I'm useless now. I can't grab him with no hands, I can't use clones or kunai or anything."

 _"That's an issue for a human."_ He heard Ryosuke's voice play in his mind and remembered what he had told him the previous night out in the woods. _"You aren't a human at the moment. You are a fox. Act like one."_

"He's right," Naruto realized. He had weapons: his teeth and claws. It was just like trying to catch those mice. Without hands, he had to adapt. He had to use his mouth. "I'm a fox now. So I should act like it."

An idea coming to mind, Naruto bounded forward and sank his teeth into the man's ankle.

"Ow! Damn it!" He kicked his leg but Naruto wouldn't let go. "That brat must have summoned an animal to stop me. Get off!"

He didn't know this was Naruto. He must have not seen him change.

Naruto held on tight, squeezing his jaws closer together. He could taste blood.

"Get!" The man used his remaining knife to stab Naruto in the shoulder. Yelping, Naruto released his hold and jumped back. He ran back at the man and bit him again, this time on the arm he was using to brandish the knife. He jerked his arm from left to right, trying to shake him off. "Get, you stupid dog!"

Naruto bit down harder. He started to scratch the man's arm and face with his claws.

"Ow! Stop that!" He started to beat Naruto over the head with his fist. He swung his arm into the wall, trying to shake Naruto loose. Naruto bashed into the wall several times before finally letting go. The man covered the wound with his hand. "Damn thing."

Naruto got up and looked around for ideas. Someone was bound to hear that and come running. If he could subdue this assassin, then he wouldn't have to worry about who came along. Servant or ninja, the villain was retrained.

A short dresser and a bookshelf gave Naruto an idea. He ran quickly and jumped onto the dresser. It barely moved as he landed atop the smooth wooden top and jumped to the bookshelf. Several books and bookends stood at attention on the shelf and Naruto took them all in his mouth and threw them as hard as he could at the man on the floor. The man covered his head with his arms and turned away from the barrage of books and metal stands. Naruto kept tossing until there was nothing left. He stepped back and wedged his paw between the wall and the back of the shelf. He kicked and pulled until it came loose and flew at the man's head.

"Ow!" Now he had a gash on his forehead.

Naruto kicked off from the wall and landed on the man's face and started scratching.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop it!"

No matter how many times the man tried to grab him, Naruto kept moving. His paws moved quickly from shoulder to shoulder and head to back and chest and neck. He sank his teeth into the man's ear and pulled.

"Ow!" He reached for Naruto with both hands. "Let g- OW!"

This was actually kind of fun. Naruto released the man's ear and headbutted him in the back, just for good measure. When the man struggled to his feet, Naruto ran in circles around his heels, trying to trip him up. It worked. He fell back to the ground and Naruto bit him again. He grabbed a curtain and draped it over the man's head, cutting him off from the rest of the room. Naruto ran in circles again, trying to tie the man up in the fallen curtain. He struggled and twisted and pulled, trying to free himself. Even if he did manage to pull it off his head for a moment, it would surround his head once more as Naruto ran and jumped. Soon the man was wrapped up tight and Naruto yanked the curtain, making it even tighter.

This was great! Even without his ninja arts, he could still fight. It was all thanks to Ryosuke's training. If it weren't for him and the other foxes, this battle might have ended differently.

Then Naruto's fox ears picked up a sound. It sounded like ripping cloth.

It was ripping cloth! The man was using his knife to cut away his binds. Naruto had to stop him. He jumped up and tried to take away the knife with his teeth but the blade moved and Naruto got a fresh cut on his cheek. "Aah!" Naruto stumbled back, his face stinging. By the time he looked back, the man was on his feet again and moving toward the door. It was time for something else he learned from Ryosuke. "Fox fire!"

A flame wheel cut off his path and the man jerked backward in surprise. The flame began to take shape and Naruto stood in front of him. The human Naruto. He took out his knife and started slashing but it was all in vain. The Naruto he was attacking was nothing more than an illusion.

Naruto stood back to admire his work. Who needed Shadow Clones when he could do this? It was almost as effective. Though they couldn't grab him physically, the illusions still made him think he was actually fighting someone. The Naruto illusion seemed to dodge his every attack. The man was forced to stumble and attack the illusion in a frustrated fury. Meanwhile, the real Naruto was tending to his wounds. There was no way he could mend himself now. All he could do was examine his injuries and hope they didn't get any worse.

"The hell with this!" The man ran at Naruto and when the illusion moved, the man went around it toward the door. The illusion couldn't stop him from leaving. If he chose to ignore the illusion, there was nothing to stop him from leaving. All the illusion could do was offer a distraction.

"No! Stop!" Naruto ran at the man but he was too late. He was in the hall and the door slammed shut like the lid to a coffin. Naruto was trapped in the room with the man on the other side. "Oh, no!"

Naruto stood in front of the closed door and stared at it. He didn't have any hands to open the door. He was trapped. Determined, Naruto pawed at the door and scratched. He felt like a dog seeking shelter from the cold only his master wouldn't let him in. He threw himself against the door. He tried jumping up and grabbing the latch in his teeth. He pushed with all this strength but it never gave. He started pleading with the door, urging it to move. He grabbed the latch in is teeth once again and kicked the door frame, trying to push the door open that way. The door slid only a crack but it was enough. Naruto jumped down and pushed the door open with his muzzle.

The hallway was empty. The man must have ran to the prince's room. Did he know where it was? Maybe he was guessing. Naruto had to find him. He used another trick Ryosuke had taught him. Naruto sniffed the ground, trying to track his scent. It worked! Thanks to the blood, Naruto could easily smell the assassin and ran in that direction.

He moved swiftly through the carpeted halls. Yet something else he owed to Ryosuke. He was able to move stealthily because of his ninja training but moving as a fox was another thing entirely. Running up the carpet steps was challenging due to his shoulder injury. Since he had to run on all fours as a fox, an injury on the shoulder was very similar to an injury on his hip or upper thigh. Whenever he put pressure on it to get to the next step, the wound would throb, sting and ooze more blood. Thankfully, he was almost at the top.

He entered a corridor overflowing with riches. He had been through this hall before. It was brimming with suits of armor and portraits and vases and statues and many more works of art. In fact, he had been hiding by that very same suit of armor earlier today when he tried scaring the prince. Only the suit of armor's head was facing the other direction. Now it looked like it was staring at him. This hall certainly gave him the creeps, especially at night. He hurried down the hall and spotted his target. The man was crouching behind a large stone statue, laying in wait.

Naruto hesitated. If he confronted him head-on, he would only get attacked before he could make it to the assassin. The best way would be to use his ninja arts and take the ceiling. However, he couldn't do that as a fox. He had to come up with something else.

He remembered more advice Ryosuke and the other foxes had given to him during hunting lessons. "Creep and pounce. Tread lightly and moved behind your surroundings. Don't step close to attack. Stand at a distance and leap. They will never hear you coming." Naruto crept behind the artwork and moved silently down the hall, using them as a cover. Just like creeping through the trees at night. It was working. The man hadn't noticed him yet. Naruto slowed his movements, sometimes stopping all together so his prey wouldn't spot him.

The assassin watched the hall with knife in hand. Naruto could tell just by looking at him that he was getting ready to move from that spot. He was too tense. His grip tightened around the handle of the blade.

Naruto bent his legs, preparing to spring. He had to do this now.

Then his ears picked up another sound. This one from further away. It sounded like running footsteps. Thumping next. The assassin seemed to feel it, too, for he looked up and Naruto remained where he was. Something else moved, and this one was much louder. The whole floor began to shake.

A man came running from another set of stairs. He was from the meeting, too. He was the one who got the nosebleed when Naruto used his Sexy Jutsu. This man was running from something. He looked like he was being chased by a beast. It wasn't that far from the truth when Naruto saw who was chasing him.

"CHA!" Sakura came flying down the stairs, her feet never touching a single step, and plowed her fist into the floor by the man's feet. A tremor spread from the point of impact and sent everything shaking. The suits of armor creaked and squeaked, the paintings swayed and rattled. The man stumbled back from shock and fell to the ground.

The assassin emerged from his hiding spot, ready to drive the knife into Sakura's body while her back was turned. She was too focused on the one in front of her that she never saw the second one coming.

"Rah!" Naruto flew through the air and landed on the man's back and sank his teeth into his other ear.

"Ahh!"

Sakura spun around. She saw a man with a knife behind her and a fox on his shoulder, biting him. She watched the man stumble into the wall and reached back to grab the fox but it was just out of reach. The fox slipped and lost its footing, but managed to keep hold on the man's ear. That only made him scream louder as the fox's weight pulled him down. It looked like he was wearing a very large, fox earring. Sakura got over her surprise and looked back at the man on the floor who was trying to crawl away while she was distracted.

A third man arrived, limping their way holding his arm. Neji was right behind him, jabbing him again and again with his fingers. "Ow! Stop it! What are you doing to me? Ow! I said stop!"

"If you want me to stop, then do as I said." Neji jabbed him again. "Down!"

"Ok! Ok!"

It was chaos. It seemed all their fights were converging on one location. Sakura held her opponent down while Neji forced his to kneel on the carpeted hallway.

The one in Naruto's teeth was still trying to fight back. In blind desperation, he threw away his knife and grabbed Naruto by the tail and pried him off his ear. Naruto sailed into a suit of armor which quickly tipped over and landed on the assassin. The tossed knife was caught in midair by Neji who then went after the assassin.

As soon as he landed, Naruto dove into the nearest room he could find and hid. He couldn't risk his friends seeing him. He didn't care about these people or whether or not they got the curse, but he cared if his friends did. He ducked into a dark room and peered through the tiny gap in the door.

"I don't think so." Neji forced the man down on his stomach and held him there at knife point. "Don't move."

Someone else was coming, and they brought friends. Long black inky snake friends. They slithered around the men, wrapping them up tight.

"Thanks, Sai. How did you do?"

Sai marched behind his own captured assailant, wrapped up just like his partners. "I managed fine. Capturing the lord was easy. Personally, I think it's as waste of my skills so I came to assist you guys. I see you made off well."

"Yeah, no thanks to Naruto." Neji growled, putting his hands on his hips. "Where is that idiot? We're under attack and he disappears?"

Naruto was tempted to say something to prove him wrong but kept his mouth shut and remained hidden.

Sai looked at the pink haired girl to his left. "Something wrong, Sakura?"

She was looking at the ground, as if searching for something she dropped. "I was just... Never mind. It's nothing."

Naruto was too busy fighting the assassin to know whether or not Sakura had seen him attack. Was she looking for the fox? Did she spot him? It didn't matter. Naruto never said a word so even if she did, she never knew it was him.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked Neji, looking at the assassin Naruto helped take down. "You look like you got attacked by a dog." He was bitten and bleeding onto the carpet.

"It was your little ninja friend," he snapped. "The one with the clones and attitude."

"He must mean Naruto," said Sai. "So he was around to help after all."

"But where is he now?" Neji wanted to know.

Someone else wanted answers as well. Several servant came from different directions, asking one question after another.

"Everything's fine. But we really must check on the prince and make sure he's-"

"What is going on out here?" came Akio's voice. He came down from the next wing and stood before them in his evening wear. There stood the prince, as a human.

"Huh?!" Naruto tilted his head in bewilderment. He wasn't a fox. The prince was human. Naruto tried to get a better look. He eyed him up and down. This wasn't an illusion. A kitsune could tell the difference while a human could not. To Naruto's kitsune eyes, Prince Akio was a human being.

"What's all this noise?" he demanded. "And what are my guests doing bound like that on the floor? What is all this?"

"Your highness," explained Neji as calmly as he could. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but these men were trying to assassinate you."

"What?" The prince looked shocked. Then he grinned nervously as if this was all a very poor joke. "That's impossible. There's no way."

"We caught them. We heard them. We saw them..." Neji sighed. "I'm sorry."

Akio gave a disbelieving shake of his head. "That can't be. We've worked together for years. They've always been... How can they do this?"

"These men you said you've never seen before." Neji gestured to two of the men. "You said so yourself."

"Yes, but lords and ladies get new servants all the time. I never thought anything of it."

"We thought it was odd so we kept a close watch on them throughout the day. Some had weapons. We watched them." Neji paused seeing the prince get even more upset. This must have been very overwhelming for him to hear.

Akio looked at the lord on the floor. "How?" he asked, his voice shaking. "How could you do this to me? You hired these men to kill me? After everything my family has done for you and your land? We were always good to you. Always fair. Why?!"

The lord turned away, but not out of shame. He looked bitter and angry.

"Tell me why!"

The lord turned back, glaring. "Because of what you are! You are not the prince of the past! You've changed!"

Akio looked hurt. "Of course I've changed from how I was then. When my parents died, it was up to me to take over and rule the kingdom by myself. When they were in charge, I was less stressed. I didn't have many responsibilities. But I couldn't be that young boy anymore. I had to take charge. I cannot be innocent anymore."

"You're horrid! The old prince I knew was far better than what I see before me now. That is the prince that has my respect and always will."

Akio looked down for a moment, then raised his eyes. "I'm sorry. I know I'm new to all this. I'm not my parents, but I'm trying my best. But if I've made mistakes, then tell me and I will try by best to fix it. Don't try killing me! Who will rule then? There is no heir."

"You are not the prince!" the lord snapped. "You've changed. I can never accept that. I want the one from years ago. Not you!"

Akio said nothing for a long time. When he did, his voice was quiet. "I'm sorry. But I cannot do that. I have a duty now. I cannot be a selfish child anymore when I have so many people to look after. I cannot be the child from the past. I have to be a man now. I had to grow up."

"You are a monster! A vile piece of-" A snake coiled around the lord's mouth and gagged him.

Sai stood behind him looking indifferent to the situation. "What now? What do we do with them now?"

"Don't you have a dungeon or something in the palace?" asked Neji.

Akio nodded, still looking hurt. "Y... yes. It's in the basement. But we never use it. There was never really a need."

"Well, there is now. We can put them there until we figure this out."

"Very well." Akio summoned his gawking servants. "Please show them to the basement."

"My lord, are you alright?" asked a maid.

"Yes," he said sadly. "I... I just wish to be alone right now. This is all a little too much. I need some time to soak it all in."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm alright. Perhaps some tea in a few minutes. It might calm my nerves."

"Allow me to escort you to your room. Please." The maid helped the prince slowly back to his chamber.

Another servant shook his head and sighed. "Poor prince... This has never happened before. He must be in shock. He's beloved by so many and so were his parents. I'm sure he never dreamed something like this would ever happen."

"Even when people think that, even if they are well respected, there will always be someone out there who wants to hurt them," said Neji. "Trust me, this is nothing new."

As the servants led the ninja and captured men away and the prince was led back up to his room by the maid and several guards, Naruto stood and gawked from his hiding place.

"He's not the fox."

He thought he had it all figured out. The fact that he never showed himself at night and the fact that foxes only appeared at night was a major factor in Naruto's suspicions. He himself changed into a fox at night so he assumed the prince did as well which was why he hid himself at night. Yet here was the prince, after sunset, as a human. Nothing about him had changed.

Then again, the servants did say that the prince always went to bed at sunset from the time he was very young. The routine never changed. According to them, nothing had changed about him at all. The lord said he was different but maybe that was because he had to mature for his role as the ruler of the kingdom after his parents' deaths. Also, nothing about him was really fox-like. He had a disliking of dogs, but so did other people so it probably didn't mean anything. Naruto was basing his suspicions on very few, unimportant ideas.

"I was so sure it was him."

He didn't act like a fox. He didn't look like a fox. He didn't smile or laugh like a fox. He didn't care for pranks. He didn't eat like a fox. Plus, foxes were nocturnal. The prince was busy during the day and slept at night. It couldn't have been him.

"Maybe I thought he was the fox because I wanted it to be him." Naruto wandered into the dark room to think. "I never liked the guy. I hated how he was always hitting on Sakura. Maybe I was looking for all this stuff because I actually wanted him to be the fox. I was focused on the wrong person. I was piecing all this stuff together and trying to make it fit the prince."

There was no way out of this room except back the way he came. Naruto waited for another minute before going back into the hall. He didn't want to risk running into anyone. He crept down the hall and down the stairs. There was an open window in the room the assassin entered. He would use that to get back outside. He had to meet up with the other kitsune.

Once he made it back to the room, he crawled through the open window and into the yard. It was later than he thought. The stars were already out, scattered across the dark sky like grains of rice over blue silk. He squeezed through the front gate and into the woods.

"Naruto!" He was quickly greeted by the other foxes, who all surrounded him looking concerned but relieved. "Where were you? We were starting to worry. Usually you're here by now."

"Sorry. There was a problem at the palace."

"What happened?"

"The prince was attacked. But it's all good now. My friends and I helped stop them."

"Oh, good." The kitsune looked thankful to hear that the prince was safe. "I'm glad the prince is alright. He's always been a decent guy."

"Yes, it is because of his family our lives improved. I would hate for something bad to happen to him."

A decent guy? Not according to the lord they captured. He said that the prince had changed recently. Something still wasn't sitting right with Naruto. His mind was on so many things that he kept trying to piece together only they never seemed to fit.

"Naruto, you're bleeding."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at his injured shoulder. His face was bleeding, too. "Oh, yeah. I sort of got it in the struggle. I turned into a fox right in the middle of the fight. But I was alone so no one saw me." As long as he didn't count the assassin, it was the truth.

The kitsune came closer, examining him. Lunabell and Sonar started licking his wounds. It stung at first but after the first couple licks, it numbed and Naruto no longer felt any pain.

"You need water," said Ishi. "Let's get him to the river."

"No, the waterfall is better for him," said Sammi.

"We should find some berries. That should help," said Egao. "Are there any?"

"They haven't grown back yet." Aurora looked around. "Some basil would be good for him. And bananas."

"That's only for tummy troubles and stress."

"Who's to say he doesn't have those problems?" Aurora spoke to the other foxes. "He needs citrus to help heal those cuts. Strawberries, tomatoes, peppers. It's all good."

"Don't forget eggs," said Lunabell, stopping for a moment to speak. "He needs vitamin A to boost a response so he can heal faster. That will remove harmful bacteria and irritants. Yellow and orange vegetables and anything with dark leafy stuff is a good source."

"Beans, too. Zinc and iron will help rebuild the body. And he needs meat, too," said Sammi.

Naruto was so surprised they were going through such lengths to help him heal. These must have been fox remedies. He had never heard of most of these. He was always taught to bind the wound and keep it clean. A fox couldn't really do that so they must have had their own method of doing things. "Guys, I'm fine, really. You don't have to."

"Those are bad wounds, Naruto. That cut on your shoulder alone is deep."

"I'm fine. I'm a fast healer."

Something was dropped at his feet. Ryosuke was in front of him, rolling something towards him with his nose. He brought Naruto something green and leafy and an apricot covered in dirt. He must have dug this up for him. "There's no point in whining, Naruto. They won't shut up until you show signs of healing. The first step is eating the right foods. Start with these."

"But I'm fine. I don't need-"

"Eat it, Naruto. We won't leave you alone until you do."

There was no point in arguing. Naruto lowered his head at ate the apricot and the green leafy plant offered to him. Only after he swallowed did they look satisfied.

They took him to the waterfall where they cleaned his wounds and made him drink. Naruto was no longer bleeding and he was feeling a lot better. He didn't feel any pain. While they looked after him, he told them about the incident.

"I owe it all to you guys. It's only because of the training you've been giving me that I was able to do what I did. Ryosuke, you were right. When I'm a fox, I need to act like it. It's hard, but I did it. I managed to take him down and protect my friends. Thanks."

"I told you it would be good for you to learn just in case of exactly that." Ryosuke grinned a foxy grin. "I knew it would be of some help to you."

"I want to learn more. Are there any other fox techniques you can show me?"

"Are you sure you don't want to rest and heal?"

"I'm fine! See?" Naruto pranced around to prove his point. "I'm good to go."

Ryosuke smiled. "Alright. But first we have to gather some food for ourselves. We just gave you all that we had saved up."

"Sorry. But you guys told me-"

"To eat it. I know. We meant it." Ryosuke looked at the other kitsune. "Let's go for the farm tonight."

"Eat and carry what we can. Got it."

The whole group set out for the farm. Naruto managed to keep up just fine. There was no pain in his shoulder as he ran alongside the foxes. Even the brush and tall weeds at eye level didn't bother him. And there was the farm. The lights were out and everything was in shadow but Naruto could see as clearly as he could in the daylight. They spread out among the rows and started to pull up whatever they could get their teeth on. Naruto went for a plump tomato which squished and oozed as he grabbed it in his teeth and pulled. He was pretty hungry after what he had been through today so as soon as it was free, he ate it.

Sonar kept watch from the cabbage patch, only taking his eyes off the farm house to eat his leafy breakfast.

Naruto moved closer to the stables, carrying a carrot in his mouth. He sat in front of one of the stalls and waited. He heard hoof beats and saw Jack lower his head over the side. "Hello, Naruto."

"Hey, Jack." Naruto tossed him the carrot. "How have you been?"

"Oh, fine. And yourself?"

"Good enough, I guess." Naruto looked back at the field of vegetables and the foxes munching in the leaves and mounds of dirt.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked.

Naruto didn't even think about what he had to say and just spoke whatever came to his lips. "I thought I found the two-tailed fox but I was wrong. It's not who I thought it was."

"He's eluded the foxes for years. It won't be easy."

"Yeah, I know. I had a feeling he wouldn't be that easy to find. But I was so sure."

"Where did you think you found him?"

Naruto looked back at the horse. "In the mansion over there. Where the prince lives."

Jack looked at the palace at the top of the hill and back at Naruto. "It would be difficult for a fox to live there, even in disguise. Servants working around the clock... If the two-tailed fox left because it wanted an easier life, why would it go there of all places?"

"That's why I thought it was the prince."

Jack snorted. "Unlikely. The prince works hard. If the fox disguised himself as the prince, it wouldn't work. The prince needs to take care of this whole area and all its people. He would have to have knowledge of a great many things. It would be hard to live as the prince. Besides, someone would have known something was off if that were the case. The prince is surrounded by guards all the time. He's constantly around people. Since kitsune only appear at night, he would get caught in his fox form. I heard a fox cannot hold onto a human form constantly. He would have to change back at night when kitsune normally appear."

Naruto nodded. "That's why I waited to see if he changed at night like I do, but I saw him as a human. That couldn't be right. I'm a fox and he's a human? We should have changed at the same time."

"Foxes are also nocturnal. The prince sleeps at night."

"Yeah, I know." Naruto sighed heavily. "I was so sure..." He looked back at the horse. "Hey, Jack? What can you tell me about the royal family and about the prince?"

"The prince?" Jack looked out at the field and at the palace wearing a sad look on his face. "I've lived all my life on this land. I was born in that barn over there behind the farmer's house. I took my first steps ten minutes after being born. I wobbled around the barn and then started trotting. It was the middle of winter, I remember. I could feel the cold but I never saw it. I remained in that barn with my mother for the longest time. Finally, I was taken out with her and saw the world for the first time and wanted to explore it. I tried to eat from the field but the farmer pushed me away. I was told not to eat from there. I tried to follow the farmer into his home but I was told to remain outside. I tried to enter the town but I wasn't allowed."

Naruto listened to everything he had to say and heard in his voice the sadness he felt in his heart.

"I have lived many years, Naruto, and I've never been outside this farmland. I've never seen the town and I know nothing of what happens in the palace. I was never given the freedom to explore and was never allowed to leave this property. I can't tell you much."

"That's ok."

"All I can tell you is what I've seen from this land. The king and queen used to visit the farm sometimes. They were very nice. They brought their son to the stables. He was so surprised at the size of us. I was much smaller at the time. When I was big enough, I pulled the carriage around the farm. The royal family rode the wooden cart and the prince was smiling the whole while. He loved it. They would visit every month or so for business and sometimes for a ride. Then one day, they never showed up and the farmer was sad. I found out that the king and queen were dead. Their young son had to take care of the land now. However, he would not be king until he was either of proper age or got married. I felt bad for him. He only visited me once after his parents were dead and he never came back. He must be too busy."

"I guess so. Handling all that stuff by himself."

"The prince was always kind to me and his parents told him to be gentle with animals. They loved animals themselves. They were good people. The farmer never complained. The only time he ever said anything bad about them was when they asked him to harvest more food for the family and for the people in town. I remember hearing the farmer complain when the family asked for more food for the prince's tenth birthday. They were throwing a huge party for him. I remember the noise very well. The lights never went out that night and I was wakened many times. Otherwise, there's really nothing bad about the family or the prince."

"For an adult horse, you sound so childish."

Jack and Naruto looked at the stall two doors down. A black horse stuck its head out the window and shot them both a look.

"My master said your prince has lost his touch. He does nothing but complain nowadays," said the horse. He looked and spoke as if he was older than Jack. "Seriously, just how old are you?"

"I've never really counted, but I'd say about nineteen."

"Old enough to know better."

Naruto thought he recognized this horse. "Wait a minute. Aren't you one of the horses that was pulling the carriage this morning?"

"Yes, I am."

He knew it. "So this is where your master left you. I was wondering..."

"Who? The driver who led me here? No, he's not my master. I've never seen him before."

"Then, the lord must be your master."

The black horse shook his head. "No. My master isn't here. He's back at the town we came from. He lent me to the lord to pull his carriage." The horse looked away. "Him I know. The other men with him, I don't. Even the one who was bringing me here, I've never seen before."

"Assassins," Naruto said. "They were hired to kill the prince."

"What?" Jack looked shocked. "Why would anyone want to do that? The prince is a good person!"

"Not according to the lord and my master!" said the black horse. "According to them, the prince has been cheating them for months! I don't know all the details, but it has them very upset. They said he's not the same prince they once knew. He's changed. The lord said that he would end it once and for all and save everyone a lot of trouble by coming here with those men. They didn't talk much during the trip, but I heard enough."

"What did you hear?" asked Naruto. "What did they say?"

"Only what I just told you. And that those men were hired to take care of him. That's all."

"So you don't know why?"

"I just told you what I know. If you want an explanation, might I suggest going to ask them yourself?"

Maybe he would. He didn't care if they became cursed if they found out he was the same ninja who helped foil their plans. He cared more about his friends. Besides, once the two-tailed fox was found, everyone would be freed of their curse and return to normal. He didn't mind if the enemy was cursed for a short time in that case.

Ryosuke came over and dropped a radish in front of Naruto. "You should eat something. Take it."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"How are your injuries?"

"I'm ok. Really."

"You were injured?" asked Jack. "How? When?"

"In the scuffle in the palace. One of those assassin guys. I was trying to stop him."

"He protected his friends," Ryosuke said proudly. "I didn't see him, but I know he fought bravely."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!"

Jack smiled. "Ha ha! What a brave fighter, you are! I knew you were strong. No wonder Ryosuke is so taken with you. He should be proud."

"I didn't take a liking to Naruto just for his bravery and strength," said Ryosuke. "I can tell he's a good person. So friendly and caring. There are many things I like about him."

Naruto was happy to hear him say that.

After more chitchat, the foxes called Ryosuke away to help them dig out some more food from the garden. Naruto watched them work to free the plants from the earth and gather up as much as they could. They ate quickly and whatever they didn't eat they would no doubt take with them and save for later. He watched how they relied on each other and the joyful looks on their faces as Ryosuke helped gather everything up into a pile. The smaller foxes having trouble pulling the food free were helped by Ryosuke and they, too, looked happy to have him around. He went around, making sure everyone was doing alright. He asked if they needed any help, if anyone was injured or having any trouble. He also made sure the others were getting enough to eat.

If Ryouske wasn't the leader, he should be. Naruto could tell just from looking at him that he would make a great one.

"He's caring. You can tell." Jack lowered his head to speak to Naruto without the others overhearing. "You know, he was the first one I met."

"The first kitsune?"

"Yeah. I had never seen one before and since I had never been off the farm, I wasn't sure what other kinds of animals there were out there. He came onto the farm one evening, not to raid, but to visit. He was curious about other animals as well. He came to my stall and we started talking. I asked him about the mountain and he asked about the farm. We talked and shared many things. When it was time for him to leave, I asked if we could see each other again. He said he would try. A week later, he returned. We would try to meet once a month if we could. Sometimes he could stay for a while, sometimes only a minute. He was a good fox. I asked if there were others I could meet. I wanted to see his friends and family. He told me it might be difficult but he would try. The next month, he brought Seki along. Seki had never seen a horse so close before and was nervous. They told me about the agreement they had with the royal family, about how they weren't to enter the town so long as they received offerings. Technically, they weren't breaking the rules because the farm wasn't a part of the town and they weren't raiding. Still, they didn't want to come down here very often."

"Because they didn't want to get caught, right? I understand." Naruto knew Ryosuke never went to the palace, but the farm was a different story. It was nice that he made friends with the farm animals.

"But soon that changed," Jack went on. "The following year, I met more foxes and they came onto the farm to take food. They told me that the humans had stopped leaving them food and that they had no choice. The offerings had stopped last month and because there were so many foxes, they were starting to run out of food in the mountain. The plants hadn't grown back and the animals were being driven off. Rather than hunt what remained and eliminate the population, they came here to take the farmer's food. They had no choice."

"How many foxes came here?"

"In the beginning? I'd say around thirty. Maybe a little less."

"Thirty..." Now there were only nine. The numbers had dwindled down so much. "Was it because of the two-tailed fox?"

"Mostly, yes. However, a couple of them were killed by humans. Sad."

"Killed? You mean by hunters?"

Jack shook his head. "Oh, no. There are hunting laws on this land set down by the king and queen. Since humans populate the area, it drove away a lot of the animals. What animals remain, the royal family wanted to preserve. So hunting is restricted. Besides, there were hunting accidents in the past since none of the humans here are expert hunters. Any hunters who were any good are long gone or too old to hunt now."

"Then the humans that killed them..?"

"Are just humans who look out their windows at night, see a fox, and attack it with whatever they have on hand. Most are beaten to death, so I hear." Jack sighed sadly. "I lost fox friends that way. They lost family that way. That's how poor Seki lost his brother."

Naruto blinked. "Seki has a brother?"

"Had," Jack corrected. "Happened a while ago. I don't know the details. All I know is one night he didn't show up and Seki was brokenhearted about it. I felt so bad for them. Either humans get them or the two-tailed fox."

From thirty down to only nine.

Naruto couldn't believe it. So many things had happened to these kitsune. So much pain they had to endure. It really wasn't their fault. Sure, humans could argue that they pulled pranks on them, but so what? Naruto pulled his fair share of pranks, too. Did that make him a bad guy? These foxes wouldn't even have to enter the town at night and raid if the offerings hadn't stopped.

"Naruto."

He looked up at the horse. Jack had a sad look on his long face. "Yeah?" he asked softly.

"I've known these foxes for many years. I like them. I like our talks and visits. But I know they cannot keep coming here. It's dangerous. As painful as it is, I know it has to stop."

If the kitsune kept coming to the farm, they were putting their lives at risk. They could get themselves killed. Jack had grown close to them and loved it when they visited. Naruto saw how much they cared for each other in the littlest things they did. The way they spoke right down to the foxes sharing the food with the horse stuck behind the stall door. But even Jack knew it was for the best that it stop. As painful as it was, he had to return to that lonely life and end the visits. It was a sacrifice. It was for them. He had to protect his friends, even if that meant saying good-bye.

He would miss them. But it was for their protection. They were safer away from the farm.

"I've lived my whole life on this farm, knowing nothing about the world outside. Ryosuke and the others told me about everything I was missing. They taught me about their world up in the mountain. They were always good to me and I care for them deeply. Seeing their numbers dwindle down as much as they have is painful to watch. The dead cannot be brought back but the cursed can be returned." Jack lowered his head again to speak to Naruto. "I see your determination. I know you're true to your word when you say you want to help them. I'm stuck behind this fence and this stall. As much as I want to help, there is nothing I can do and it's painful. So I must ask you this one favor, Naruto. Please save my friends."

Those dark brown eyes held such earnest emotion, Naruto could tell these foxes meant the world to him. This horse cared deeply for these foxes and knowing there was little he could do must have been so painful for him. He wanted to help but couldn't, so he had to ask Naruto to do it in his stead.

"I'm not doing it as a favor to you or anyone." Naruto stood up tall, swishing his tail back and forth. "I'd do it even if you didn't ask. I was always going to help them. And you're right. I never, ever go back on my word. No matter what. So you got it. I swear, I'll help protect them. I'll find that two-tailed fox and put an end to this. I promise I'll help them. Count on it."

Naruto's words were just as heartfelt as Jack's pleas. Jack nodded his head up and down, knowing Naruto would do everything in his power to help them.

"Farmer!" Sonar yelled. "Run!"

Jack raised his head, his height giving him the advantage when it came to spotting danger. His eyes focused on something in the distance, straight ahead. The farmer was coming from that direction. The foxes gathered up as much food as they could in their mouths and made a run for it. Naruto ran to the pile of food and grabbed a tomato. It was all he could fit in his mouth. He made a break for the fence.

The other foxes were ahead of him. He could see their tails swishing as they ran into the dark woods on the other side of the fence. Ryosuke was behind them, making sure they all managed to get away. He jumped over the fence and landed on the other side. Without pausing, he continued his run. Naruto tried to make the same leap but his shoulder was acting up from the earlier battle. It hadn't bothered him before, but now that he was running it was starting to ache. Though the pain wasn't bad, it was enough to weaken his muscles mid-jump. Naruto's upper body made it over the fence but his back legs were too low. His leap wasn't powerful enough to sail over the fence the way Ryosuke had done. His back paws thumped against the wooden fence post and sent Naruto tumbling into the grass. The tomato squished in his mouth on impact.

Ryosuke came running back, dropping the radishes in his mouth. "Are you ok?"

Naruto was on his feet. He gave a quick nod, tomato still in his mouth, and started running again. Ryosuke gathered up the radishes and followed Naruto into the woods. He remained behind Naruto every step of the way.

Once everyone made it back to their meeting spot, they all stopped and dumped their collections on the ground. This time, Naruto managed to bring back something. It may have been squished and had teethmarks in it but it was food nonetheless.

"Everyone ok?"

"We're fine."

"I'm alright."

"Naruto, how about you?"

"I'm ok."

Everyone managed to bring back something. They would have something to eat tomorrow night.

Naruto felt proud of himself. Despite the tumble, he managed to contribute and brought back something for the group. He was improving.

The foxes brought their spoils up the mountain and buried them under a tree beside the waterfall. The foxes spent their time chatting and laughing. Some started a game, chasing each other around the grass and leaping over the river.

"Should I practice my hunting?" Naruto offered Ryosuke.

"No, you should rest tonight." Ryosuke was watching Sammi and Superu play their game of chase. "You were injured and that will impair your ability. Give yourself time to rest and heal."

"What about other fox magic you can teach me? My fox fire has gotten a lot better. What other things can you teach me? What else can a one-tailed fox do?"

Ryosuke thought about it. "Well, there is one other thing a fox with one tail can do. But I think we should save it for another time."

"What is it?"

"It's called fox possession."

Naruto knew what that was based on the title alone. "Ohh! I want to do that! Show me that one!" He was excited. "Please, show me! I can do it! It sounds like fun!"

"I'd rather save it for a different time, Naruto. Rest now."

"But I'm fine! I keep telling you that."

"I just want to make sure."

"Come on, Ryosuke," said Seki. "Fox possession doesn't require a lot of strength. It'll be easy."

"But fox possession only works on humans. I don't want to take Naruto into the town. It's dangerous."

"I can use my friends. I'm sure they won't mind," Naruto offered.

"I don't go to the palace."

"I'll take him," said Seki. "It'll be fine. Trust me."

Ryosuke was still hesitant. "I don't know."

"If you're so worried about us..." Seki chuckled. "I'll look after him. No problem. He has to go to the palace anyway when the sun rises."

Ryosuke sighed. "You're going to anyway... Just be careful, ok?"

"We'll be fine. Don't worry so much." Seki gave Naruto a nudge. "Come on, Naruto. Still want to try it? I'm good at it. Next to fox fire, it's one of our easiest tricks. You'll get it for sure."

Naruto and Seki went down the mountain together. Ryosuke watched them from the top of the waterfall, like a watchful protector. Seki took Naruto the long way, just in case the farmer or any other humans were around to spot them. Naruto's shoulder wasn't bothering him anymore. It must have been irritated because of the fast run he was doing. Walking didn't bother him and neither did his climb down the mountain.

"Oh, look, Naruto!" Seki went off the trail and over to a tree. "Look there. See it?"

Naruto stood at the root of the tree and looked up into the branches. A lone peach dangled from one of the branches, almost completely hidden by the leaves.

"It's the last peach on the tree." Seki marveled at it as if the tree was bearing gold. To a fox, it wasn't too far from the truth. To them, food was just as valuable as gold would be to humans.

Seki bent his legs and sprang straight up, clawing his way up the trunk of the tree. Foxes were great climbers. He moved slowly across one branch and then to another, working his way up to the peach. His paw touched a branch that began to creak and snap. Seki quickly jumped off and landed on the ground. The peach was still in the tree.

"Those branches are brittle," he said. "No wonder it's still there."

"I can get it," Naruto said confidently. He started up the side of the tree. He sank his claws into the trunk and up to the first branch. This was the easy part. It was like climbing up a round ladder. The higher he climbed, the more the branches started to creak. The peach was right above his head. As soon as he put his paws on the branch above him, it started to split. These branches were so thin they were more like twigs than actual branches. Unless he used this branch for support, the only other way to reach the peach was to jump. Since the branch would snap just like the one Seki was on, Naruto had no choice. He bent his legs and sprang up, snagging the peach with his teeth and pulled it free. He landed on the branch below just for a second, then started to slip. Naruto jumped down and landed beside Seki, peach closed in his jaws. "I got it!"

"You got it!"

Naruto offered the peach to Seki. "Here, take it."

"No, you got it. It's yours."

"I can eat in the morning when I'm human again. You guys need it more."

"I appreciate that, Naruto, but it's yours." Seki wasn't going to take it. "You have it."

Naruto didn't want to eat this now. He snacked in the garden. Then he thought of something he could do with it. "Ok." Naruto carried it to the palace in his teeth.

The palace was dark and quiet. The guards by the gate were now positioned by the front door and were alert. No doubt they were fearing the prince may be attacked again this night. Everything else seemed calm and at ease. Naruto and Seki went the long way around the palace, emerging onto the same stone wall as before, overlooking their bedrooms. Seki jumped down first and Naruto followed. He set the peach down in the grass while Seki looked for a suitable victim.

Neji wasn't in his room. Maybe he was keeping an eye on the assassins from before. However, Sai was in his bed, sound asleep.

"Want to use him?" Seki asked.

Naruto nodded. "Ok." Naruto was a little worried at Sai would sense them and wake up. Neji was a light sleeper, but Sai was a little different. Due to his training, he must have been taught to be alert even asleep so he could avoid danger. Naruto was never sure. On missions together, Naruto saw that even when Sai was sleeping soundly, he would still wake up to the slightest movement in the room. That was how he managed to avoid many of Naruto's pranks. Once Naruto attempted to draw on his face just for the sake of doing so only for Sai to whisper a warning and grab Naruto's hand without even opening his eyes. He was good.

So far, Sai wasn't moving. He must have been sleeping soundly. But Naruto knew that could change if he sensed them enter his room. He would wake up if he heard them whisper especially.

"But, Seki... Sai is a ninja. Even if he is asleep, how do we make sure he won't wake up and see us?"

"Is he a light sleeper?"

"Well, not as much as Neji, but..."

"Then we can cast an illusion and escape. Besides, I'll tell you what you need to do before we go in. I know if we talk in there, he'll be more likely to wake up. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Foxes were sneaky. So far, they hadn't done anything to make Naruto question their actions. He had faith in them. "Ok. How do I do fox possession?"

"It's simple." Seki sat on the ground and pointed into the room with his paw. "All you have to do is find a human you want to possess and jump into their body. It's easier to do on a sleeping person because they're less likely to see you do it."

"Yeah, but how do I get inside their body?"

"The easiest way is to enter from either the head or the chest. Back also works, too. This is where it gets tricky if you're a first-timer. You have to imagine yourself sinking into their body, like the person is a tub of water you want to soak in. It's like slipping on a piece of clothing."

"Ok. So it's like putting on and wearing a costume? I've put on those before."

"Yeah. Think of it like that." Seki looked into the room. "That's the best advise I can give you. Are you ready to give it a try?"

"Wait, that's it?" That wasn't a lot to go on. Then again, a lot of his ninja training was like that. The only way to get better was to give it a try and gain experience. The other fox magic he learned were similar to his ninja arts. Since he could make comparisons, it was a lot easier for him to perform. However, possession wasn't anything like the techniques he had under his belt. Ino would probably be able to understand this better than he could. He just had to hope for the best and give it a try.

"The other thing, Naruto," Seki went on. "Once you enter, a human will fight for control at first. You have to suppress it. This is another reason why using it on a sleeping victim is better. They're less likely to fight back. Try to remain in control. You'll feel them let go and that's when you have them."

"Got it."

"Good. I'm going to manipulate his dream so he'll be less likely to wake up. Keep quiet while we're inside."

Seki waved his paw and a blue flame appeared over Sai's head. The flame flickered and Sai gave a soft grunt. A moment later, he was still and relaxed.

Naruto went in first. His paws made no sound on the floor as he walked over to Sai's body. He sat at his head and watched the flame die out and disappear. Seki entered next and sat further away from Sai.

This was it. Naruto had to make sure he did this right otherwise Sai would wake up. Naruto lifted his paws off the ground and hovered them over Sai's head, trying to imagine himself jumping into a tub of water. He tried to imagine Sai's body as nothing more than a soft gel he could easily pass through. Just like diving into a pool. He just had to enter the water. It would be easy to break the surface. He just had to lean in and dive.

Naruto's paws touched Sai's forehead. Slowly, his paws started to sink into the skin. Naruto kept his eyes shut, trying not to break his concentration. Naruto sank in up to his elbows. Sai flinched. Naruto tipped forward and sank in deeper and deeper until only his tail was sticking out. Sai moaned loudly and his face tightened as if he were in pain. Naruto's tail slipped inside and he was gone from sight.

Seki watched as Sai began to toss and turn, moaning and groaning. "Come on, Naruto. Get control. You can do it," he whispered to himself. "You got this." He hoped Naruto would succeed. Most amateur foxes failed their first time and the human would panic. For Naruto's sake, he hoped things would go differently.

Sai settled back down and lay still on the bed. This was a good sign. Seki stood up and approached the bed, hopeful. Sai rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. He turned his head and looked down at the fox beside his bed with blue eyes. Naruto's eyes. Seki grinned.

Sai grinned back. "I did it!" Naruto had taken control.

"Alright!" Seki cheered. "You've got talent!"

So this is what it was like to be Sai. It was so strange. It felt like he was wearing a second skin. When he pulled the covers off, Naruto felt cold. Sai's stomach was exposed. Why he didn't wear a normal shirt that covered his torso was beyond Naruto.

"Try moving. Stand up."

Naruto gave it a try. He started to stand. His legs wobbled and he fell back onto the bed. "Sai's legs aren't working," he complained.

"You're used to walking like a fox," Seki reminded him. "You'll have to get used to it. Take it slow, Naruto. Try again."

Nodding, Naruto gave it another go. Slowly, he got onto his foreign knees. He started crawling, trying to get used to this new body. Once he felt he had gotten the hang of it, he pulled himself up a little further, getting Sai's feet under himself. Then he pushed off with his hands and stood. At first, he wobbled, then he managed to stay upright with his arms out to either side. He took one step and then another. It was like learning to walk. Soon he was taking baby steps around the room with his arms out for balance.

He turned to Seki and gave him a smile which the fox returned. "Good job."

"Thanks." Naruto started to lower his arms. He was getting the hang of this.

"You are a natural."

Naruto smiled again.

Remembering what Jack and mentioned before, Naruto wanted to satisfy his curiosity. He willingly dropped to his knees and sat on the floor near Seki. He had to ask.

"Uh, Seki?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"It's about your brother."

Seki's ears twitched. "Oh." He dropped his gaze. "My older brother, I take it."

"You have others?"

He nodded. "A little brother. I'm in the middle. His name's Reki."

Naruto didn't know Seki had two brothers. If that was the case, then what happened to the younger one? Naruto had already met all the foxes up in the mountain. If Reki wasn't here then...

"What happened to them? Jack mentioned something about your older one but he told me to ask you for the details."

Seki sighed. "It was a few years ago. Right around the time the offerings stopped coming. We ate all the food in the woods and the animals were starting to run off. To better ration the food supply, a few of us decided to go into the town and find something to eat. My older brother took me and Reki into town while two other foxes went in a different direction. We were looking through trash when a human came out of his house with a large blade with a red handle. He shook it at us and we ran. Reki was much smaller than we were and he had never been that close to an angry human before. He started running in circles in a panic. My older brother and I went back for him and we started to run but the human chased us. My older brother told us to go on ahead while he went a different way to confuse the human. He was trying to protect us."

Naruto already knew how the story was going to end.

"The human caught my brother and killed him. He skinned him and kept his pelt." Seki turned away to hide his tears.

It must have been horrible. Especially seeing his own brother being made into a pelt. Some humans didn't think much of it half the time. Fur was fur and it was only an animal. However, if someone were to make a pelt out of a human, that would be a different story. Naruto imagined it would be the very same feeling for a human to see a human skin mounded on someone's wall as it would for a fox to see his own kind. Much less someone he knew so closely. It must have been sickening. The thought of someone skinning someone like Kakashi and putting him on a wall made Naruto's stomach turn.

"What about your younger brother?"

Seki turned back. "He, uh... went looking for Reevo. He saw what the lack of offerings was doing to us. We would go into town to find something to eat and we would get chased away by humans. Other times we wouldn't come back at all. He was sure it was because they had discovered Reevo's whereabouts and placed a curse on them. Since it only happened when we went into town, he was sure that meant Reevo was somewhere in town. He said he would find him and put a stop to this. Every night he went into town not to steal food but to find Reevo. One night he never came back. I have a feeling he finally found Reevo."

"And cursed him."

Seki nodded. "That was a little over a year ago. We're sure he got cursed."

"But he is alive, right?"

"I think so. Every fox curse is different. A common one is to transform people into inanimate objects. Like a statue. If that's how Reki was cursed, then he is alive. Unless the object gets damaged. I heard that if the object a person was turned into gets destroyed, the person dies. As long as that doesn't happen, then Reki is safe."

Foxes, people, Seki's brother. Reevo had to be stopped. Naruto was pumped and ready to take action.

"I promise, I'll find Reevo and put a stop to this. I swear!"

"We've been searching for years, Naruto. Anyone who gets close ends up cursed."

"Hey, I'm already cursed. It's not like he can do it again, right?"

"He might. We don't know."

"Seki, I'll stop him. I'll find him and stop him. I promise."

"That's all well and good Naruto, but do you really think you stand a chance?"

Naruto sat up tall and gave Seki and thumbs-up. "Of course I do! With my ninja skills and all the fox magic you guys have taught me, he won't stand a chance."

Seki didn't looked convinced. "Actually... you only have one tail. He's a two-tails. They're stronger. And if you're facing him at night then you won't have any ninja skills to use on him. The fact of the matter is, only another two-tails stands a chance against Reevo."

"What if everyone works together?"

"Most of us are too afraid to try. Besides, we would need a leader to organize us and we don't have one." Seki looked down. "Well, I had hoped but... he won't."

"Who?"

"Ryosuke."

Naruto blinked. "Ryosuke? You want him to be leader?" He smiled. "That's no problem. I thought he was your leader until you guys told me he wasn't. He has talent for it. He should be."

"We all think he should be. I've always thought of him as a leader. He's stronger, faster and smarter than the rest of us. He may not be the most cunning, but that's fine. Aurora takes that one. But he comes in first with a lot of skills and he makes good choices and thinks about us. That's what we need a leader to be. However, he refuses. Even when I told him he should become the leader, he told me he wouldn't. If he would claim that title, we would follow his orders no matter what. But until he takes up the title, he's just another one of us and no one has to listen to him."

"But..."

"We do need a leader, Naruto. We need someone to keep us organized and safe. Until we have one, we do our own thing and obey no one. We're scattered. Sure, we look out for each other, but we still need someone to lead us. We just do. I'm not sure if a human would understand our need for such a thing."

"No, I get it."

Seki sighed. "Either way, he won't take up the role. And because he doesn't want it, he's holding himself back. He's a lot stronger, but..." Seki turned away.

"What is it?" Naruto crawled closer. "What's wrong?"

Seki looked back. "Ryosuke's tail has started to split. He'll become a two-tails."

Naruto's heart was thumbing loudly in his chest. "Then that means..."

"Yes. Not only would that ensure his title as leader and give him every right to be the leader without question... it also means that he is the only one who can take down Reevo. Being a two-tails gives him a chance."

"That's great! Isn't it?"

"Naruto, I told you that he refuses. Ryosuke's tail started to split two months ago but he's been suppressing it. He refuses to let it split. He won't become a two-tails."

Won't. Not that he couldn't but that he wouldn't. Ryosuke was forcing his tail not to split. He didn't want the change to take place.

"But why would he do that?"

"It's like I said, Naruto. Having two tails among the rest of us one-tailed kitsune would make him the leader automatically. It's like a king's birthright. No one would question him being the leader. There would no longer be an excuse for him not to be. You see? He wouldn't be able to refuse the title even if he wanted to. We would look to him as leader and have his word be law no matter what. Even if he says he doesn't want to be, it's out of his paws. He can't step down."

"Ok. I get it. Having two tails means no matter what he says or does, he's going to be leader, like it or not. I see. It can't be helped. That's why he doesn't want it to split because it would be proof that he has the right to be the leader. I get it." Naruto folded his, or rather Sai's, arms. "But what I don't get is why he doesn't want to be the leader. What's so bad about it?"

Seki gave a weary chuckle. "I have a theory about that. Though Ryosuke wouldn't want to hear it. But I think it's true."

"What is it?"

"I think he's afraid," said Seki. "I think Ryosuke's worried that if he becomes a two-tails, he'll turn into Reevo. He'll become just like him and abandon us for the life of a human. That he'll become cruel. He doesn't want to change."

He didn't want to change into a two-tails because he feared it would change himself.

"But, does gaining another tail change your personality?"

"No. It just gives you new powers and makes you stronger. That's it," said Seki. "But I think Ryosuke is afraid that the new power he gains will corrupt him. That he'll become like Reevo."

"But wasn't Reevo always a jerk? Didn't he always want to live life as a human? Even before getting his second tail?"

Seki nodded. "Yes. Reevo never changed. Only the number of his tails did."

He knew it. Ryosuke was worried for nothing. Gaining more tails wouldn't turn him into something he wasn't. Reevo just used the tails as an excuse to do what he did. Ryosuke wouldn't become like that. Ryosuke was different. He was kind and caring and looked out for others. He was protective and strong and fair. Nothing like Reevo. Naruto knew in his heart that Ryosuke wouldn't become like Reevo. There was no way. They were too different.

Seki looked out the window. "It will be dawn soon. We'd better leave."

"Right." Naruto looked down at Sai's body. "Um... So how do I get out?"

"Just leap out of the body. Like breaking through a paper wall."

Naruto bent and jumped. Sai's body jumped with him. "It's not working. Everything I do, Sai does!"

"You have to move without moving the body you're in. Try again."

Naruto tried to do as he said but it was a lot harder than he thought. It was hard to move without moving. Next to impossible actually. Naruto tried something different. He remained still and kept his eyes shut. He tried to imagine himself jumping through a hoop. His body had to remain stationary. Just leap with his mind. Like moving his spirit. Like making his heart beat faster without moving a muscle. Naruto tried to will himself into position. And then...

"Hah!" Naruto rolled into the wall and looked back. Sai was still sitting there. Naruto looked down at his fox body. It worked.

"Hurry!" Seki whispered and dashed out the window. Naruto followed just as Sai began to recover. They ran out into the yard and hid behind a tree. "Too close!"

"I did it, though."

"Yeah, you did. Great job." Seki looked at the sky. "I'd better go."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto watched Seki climb over the wall and into the trees.

Then he went back to where he had left the peach and picked it up in his teeth. He still had plans for this.

* * *

This chapter was a bit longer, but we learned a lot, didn't we?

Please review! ^-^


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

Warm sunlight was streaming through her bedroom window and the chirping of birds gently roused the girl nestled in the plush bed. Sakura sat up stretching. After a good battle in the palace, it was nice to be able to go right to bed without much to worry about. It was refreshing somehow.

The battle wasn't even that difficult. Those men were hardly a trouble. A bit amateur, she had to admit. They were assassins after all. That alone made them different from ninja. She couldn't have expected them to be that good now that she thought about it.

"Hm. Even ninja assassins are way better than them. That fight was easy."

Yet something was on her mind about last night. She could have sworn she saw a fox attacking the man behind her. It looked like the same fox from the other night she welcomed into her room. Only this time it was covered in blood. Was it injured from the assassin? Was it protecting her? She only saw it for a second then it disappeared.

"I thought for sure I saw it. Just for a second." Sakura started to get out of bed. "Maybe it was the one from the other night. It could have been."

As she started to dress, she noticed something on her windowsill. It wasn't there when she went to bed. She came closer for a better look.

A peach.

Sakura picked it up and examined it closely. She turned it over in her hand, running her fingers over the small teethmarks in the fuzzy peach skin.

"It was here. I knew it."

The fox must have returned and brought her a gift.

Sakura set the peach on her dresser and finished changing. When she opened her door and started down the hall, she noticed Neji kicking Naruto's door and yelling. "Must we go through this as if you were a child? Get your ass up!"

Naruto threw the door open and pointed a finger in Neji's face. "I heard you the first time! You don't have to kick the door down! Sheesh!"

"I'm only yelling at you because we've been through this several times this week. I also want a word with you."

"Augh!" Naruto retreated back into his room.

At breakfast, the group was treated to hot miso soup and fresh fruit. Prince Akio joined them at the table to thank them for their help last night and to express his surprise at what happened.

Naruto ate quietly, thinking about what Seki had told him last night.

Ryosuke was becoming a two-tailed fox but he was resisting his transformation out of fear. Ryosuke didn't want to be their leader despite the fact that so many looked to him as one. Becoming a two-tails and accepting the title would make it official. They needed a leader. Naruto knew Ryosuke would make a good one.

"Naruto."

"Huh?" He looked up.

"I asked you a question," said Neji.

"Oh. Sorry. I wasn't listening."

Neji didn't look at all surprised. "I asked if you were ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To leave the village."

Naruto dropped his spoon. "What?!"

"Our mission is complete. There's no longer a reason for us to stay. Now that the assassins are detained and the prince is safe, it's time for us to return home."

Not yet. They couldn't leave yet. There was still so much he had to do. It wasn't just about stopping the two-tailed fox and keeping his promise to the foxes. He also had his own curse to worry about. Even if he left the area, his curse would still be in effect. He would continue to change at night. He had to stop Reevo not only for the kitsune but for himself as well. He had to save Seki's brother and all those people who were cursed by Reevo. He made them a promise and he intended to keep it. He couldn't leave until Reevo was found.

"But we can't leave yet!"

"Why not?"

"Because-" Naruto stopped. He couldn't tell them the truth. He had to think of another reason. "Because... we can't."

"You already said that, but why?"

"Uh... because... uh..."

"Naruto's right," said Sai. "We can't leave yet."

"We can't?" Sakura's head turned around. "Why not?"

Sai's reason was something no one had taken notice of until now. "Five men came to this town last night to assassinate the prince. We only caught four."

The table was silent for a moment.

"He's right."

"Our mission isn't over yet."

Naruto was so relieved. Sure, there was another assassin running loose around town, but they got to spend another night at the palace.

"Which brings me to something I wanted to ask you, Naruto." Neji turned to look at him. "Where exactly were you last night? You're usually the first one to charge into battle and yet you were nowhere to be found."

"I was... Well... I was outside when one of the assassins attacked. And we fought."

Neji looked Naruto in the eye for a long time. "Ok." He seemed to accept that answer and said nothing further.

"It must have been the one that got away. It would be easy if he was outside," said Sai. "Neji, what did the men tell you last night? I know you stayed with them a while."

"Not much. No more than what they said when we captured them in the hallway." Neji then turned to the prince. "By the way, there was something I've been meaning to ask you since last night, Prince Akio."

"Yes?"

"You weren't truthful with us."

Akio frowned. "I wasn't?"

"Our first day here, you gave us a tour and told us all the places we could get in and out. When I asked you if there was any other way for someone to get in, you told me no. That was a lie."

Akio didn't speak. The ninja stared at the two of them in silence.

"Yes, those men were welcomed inside the palace but their locations changed very quickly. Too quickly. And no one on staff mentioned seeing them ever leave their rooms. Which led me to believe that they got to where they were by other means. Their windows were unlocked and some were even left open. Plus, their rooms were on the ground floor. It would have been easy for them to get outside. Back in is another matter." Neji gave the prince a stern look. "There are other ways to get in, aren't there? Secret passages. And you knew that, didn't you? And didn't tell us."

"Neji," started Sakura. "What are you saying?"

"There are secret passages into the palace. The prince must have known. And since the lord who was with them has been coming here for years, he must have also known and told it to the men he hired. That's how they knew where to go and how to get inside."

Akio then asked, "How do you know about hidden passages? Having someone on staff sneak them in, I could understand. But you went right to the passages. Why?"

"Because I saw them." Neji gestured to his eyes. "When I used my Byakugan, I noticed spaces in the palace that weren't hallways and didn't connect to other rooms properly. And you knew about them and didn't tell us."

After an uncomfortable silence, Akio sighed and admitted the truth. "Yes. My parents told me never to reveal their location in case someone decided to use it against the house."

"But we're here to help you," said Sakura. "You should have told us."

"I know that and I apologize."

"Where are the passages?" asked Sai.

Akio listed the locations and where they led. "There's three in total. One in the hallway that leads to the yard by the front gate. One on the third floor which leads into the forest. And one that leads from the private garden to my bedroom. We only have them in case of emergency, like fires or if people broke in to harm us."

"Like last night?" Naruto said, raising a brow.

"I'm sorry I wasn't truthful with you."

"That's alright," said Neji. "We understand. But to avoid something like this in the future, you should inform us of everything."

"Understood." Akio then gave Neji an odd look. "So this Byakugan you possess... What does it do? Give you the power to see through walls?"

"Well, something like that. Fine details I cannot see. I mostly use it to see one's location so I can protect my group from enemies and to see someone's Chakra points in battle so I land a good blow to stop them."

"I see." Akio gave a nervous grin. "Have you seen anything interesting with it?"

"Like what?"

"Oh," Akio chuckled. "Nothing. Just... what went on last night. For instance where the fifth man ran off to."

"No, I haven't seen him. We'll have to search for him and make sure the palace is guarded."

The prince smiled. "I see." Then his smile spread. "Do you also use that power to watch women undress?"

Neji's face turned beat red. "Hardly!"

"I'm just asking. I have to keep my maids safe, after all."

"I would never!"

* * *

Naruto decided to take a walk through town with Sakura. Since the children were out and about, Naruto decided to have a little fun and entertain them for a bit. He summoned up a few clones and they all performed tricks for their amusement. The children were very impressed. A couple even tried to imitate them. Sakura didn't say anything about it. There was nothing else to do.

"Will you shut up out there?!"

The children stopped cheering and Naruto's clones vanished.

The old man from before came out of his house shaking his fist at them. "Keep it down! Why are you so eager to cause trouble?"

"We're not trying to," Sakura said quickly. She was trying to keep the peace. "He was just playing with the kids was all. We didn't mean to-"

"That boy's no child, he shouldn't act it." The old man gave Naruto a dirty look. "I knew you would be nothing but trouble when you came here the other day. When are you leaving?"

"We're still on a mission," said Sakura. "The prince was almost assassinated last night."

"He's got servants in there to protect him. Besides, that's usually how royalty dies. Someone kills them."

"Don't you care if he dies?"

The old man scoffed. "I don't know him personally. I don't care. He's just some punk kid, anyway. He's not old enough to earn my respect. Running a town like this takes a man. Not some kid."

Naruto was sick of this old man. What was his problem?

"Don't mind the geezer," said a plump woman carrying her laundry inside. "He's a very hateful old man."

The old man stepped closer to the woman. "I wouldn't be if your kids would learn to keep it down so that I can sleep!"

"It's the middle of the day, old man! Let my children have their fun."

"I can't sleep at night either because of that damn dog barking all night!"

"It's not my dog," said the woman. "Take it up with Suzi. It's her dog."

"She knows damn well I hate dogs! She's making it bark all night to spite me."

"There's no pleasing you, is there?" The woman went inside but the old man called after her.

"The dog barks all night long and I can't sleep during the day because of these stupid kids! Get a hold of your brats and do your job as a parent!"

The woman appeared in the window and stuck out her tongue, which her children were quick to imitate. The old man continued to rant and rave at them.

Naruto and Sakura pressed on.

"That old guy's a jerk," remarked Sakura. "I've run across some real grouchy old men but this guy's awful. I think he's the worst one I've seen."

Naruto had to agree with her. "Yeah. That geezer's a real piece of work..."

Naruto's steps started to slow. Something the old man had said was starting to get to him. He said that he hated dogs. Naruto had been into town before with the other foxes and the dog didn't bark all night as the old man claimed. The old man also said that he slept during the day. Why would he do that? If the dog did keep him up all night he could understand, but since it was an exaggeration that couldn't be it. He also didn't care much for the prince or how his family cared for animals.

That old man...

"Could he be..?" Naruto turned around.

The old man was going back into his house. When a dog started barking at him, he took a cane from inside and took a swing at the dog's head. It ran off yelping and the old man went inside, tossing the cane down with a loud clatter.

Maybe it was him. This man could be the two-tailed fox.

* * *

While everyone else was trying to figure out where the last remaining assassin was hiding, Naruto was hard at work trying to figure out where Reevo was hiding. Now he had a new suspect. The old man in the town seemed to fit a fox fairly well. If he slept during the day and had a hatred of dogs, it was very possible that he was a kitsune.

He had to be careful, though. He needed to gather more proof in order to be sure. He couldn't just attack him on a hunch. He was so certain it was the prince and turned out to be wrong. He couldn't do the same thing again. If he rushed in and beat up an innocent man, what would happen to him? The town could turn on him for one. There were other consequences, too.

Naruto was going out there to find out more about this old man. He only had a few hours before sunset. He made sure his knives were sharp and tightened his headband. He was ready for action. He couldn't be too careful when it came to taking down a kitsune. He knew how tricky and powerful they could be.

He decided to sneak away so the others wouldn't notice him and question his actions.

On his way outside, he noticed Sakura talking to someone in the library. He stopped to take a quick peek.

Prince Akio and Sakura were sitting together at a table by the window looking at a pile of books between them on the polished wood. She was giggling. Naruto moved closer to hear them.

"You have so many books. Our library back home has a large selection of ninja books. Tools, skills, history, you name it."

"But you do have other books, don't you?" asked Akio.

"Of course we do. But some of the books you have here I've never seen before."

"I would love for you to stay and enjoy them. Take your time."

"I would love to, but I'm still on a mission. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm goofing off when I should be working."

"I'm aware of that, Miss Sakura."

"Haha, I told you that you don't have to call me 'miss'. Just Sakura is fine."

"Ah yes. But..." Akio leaned over the table and touched Sakura's hand. "You see, calling you 'miss' seems more fitting somehow. It carries a certain femininity to it. A proper title. I'm not sure how to explain it. Merely saying your name seems so common. Adding something to it makes you sound... more. That is..." Akio turned away chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry. It's coming out all wrong. You must think I'm..."

"No, no. It's ok." Sakura touched his hand.

Naruto pressed himself against the door so hard he felt as if his cheek would break through the wood.

Akio lifted his gaze. "It's just that calling a woman by a title such as that gives them an air of importance. And I hold you in such high regards, Sakura. You are so valuable. Why would you ever settle for plain when you are so much more? Your name itself is very fitting of you. A lovely flower coming into bloom. Already so wonderful and yet there's always room for growth."

Sakura was smiling.

Naruto started to grind his teeth. He remembered why he hated the prince so much. Why the hell couldn't he be the fox so that he could kick his ass? Before Naruto could go bursting in and putting a stop to this, he remembered his mission and forced himself to turn away and carry on.

Once outside, Naruto felt a lot better. He was glad he was able to hold himself back. It would have ruined his intentions if Sakura were to find out about where he was going. He would have argued with her, she would have hit him, his friends would come to see what had happened, and if he were to go off after that they would ask him where he was heading. He didn't want to make a racket and have everyone come running to him. It would make it much harder to sneak off. He could have left a clone behind, but he wasn't sure what he would find at the old man's house. He had to reserve his Chakra. There was no telling what would happen when dealing with the two-tailed fox. He needed all the strength he had.

The town was still lively and the children were playing in their small yards by the dirt road. They ignored him now, involved in their own games. Naruto moved past them quickly and over to the old man's house. Taking a quick look around, Naruto lifted himself up to peer inside through the window. It was too dark to see anything. These windows were so dirty. It was like trying to peer through fog. Naruto moved around to the other side where he found an open window. He slipped inside before anyone could notice him.

It was a lot cooler inside. This old man was so secretive. There were no lights on and all the windows were too dirty to let light in. Naruto started to look around. This house could use some cleaning. There was dust everywhere and none of the dishes had been washed. A half-eaten sandwich was still on the table and another one was in the sink, hard and green. This old guy never cleaned anything! Naruto looked at the kitchen table and counters for clues of this man's foxy nature. Dirty dishes, of course. Pots and pans, rusty and stained. Spoons so dirty they didn't reflect light even when held up to the sun. Dulls knives in the sink and on the counter. A bent ladle, a wooden cutting board, and a knife with a red handle.

Naruto went back. A knife with a red handle. Why did that get his attention so quickly?

He moved to the next room. The living room was just as dirty. Dusty and stained blankets on the couch and chair, a pillow with stuffing leaking out of a tear in the side. A glass of water on the coffee table beside torn books and papers. Then there was something odd by the lamp beside the chair. It was an ornament. That wasn't the odd part; it was what the ornament was of that got Naruto wondering. It was a wooden carving of a fox. Why on earth would a man who hated animals have a carving of a fox on his table? It wasn't alone. There was another one by the window and a third on the mantle above the fireplace.

Naruto's eyes followed the fireplace from the fox carving to the dusty old photos of women and men, to an empty vase to another carving. Then, mounted on the wall above all that, was something that made Naruto's heart skip a beat.

A fox pelt.

Naruto's knees felt weak.

The knife with the red handle, the fox pelt on the wall. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind.

This was Seki's older brother.

Naruto's body began to burn with anger.

Yes, it was a fox pelt. Yes, he knew people who had animal furs. But this was different. This felt personal. He knew the brother of the fox this pelt belonged to. He may as well have been staring at the severed head of a human.

"Murderer."

He couldn't leave it like this. He had come to know these kitsune. They were his friends. This was one of them. It- no, _he_ needed a proper burial.

Stepping forward, Naruto reached over the mantle and grabbed hold of the pelt. In one swift movement, he tore it down. The man who hung this didn't do a very good job of securing it to the wall. It was only mounted on a couple of nails. The pelt itself wasn't damaged. It was cold and the fur was matted. Very different from a living fox fur.

Naruto quickly stuffed it in his bag and climbed out the same window he entered.

No one noticed him leaving the house. It was a clean getaway. Naruto looked up and down the road. He looked at the waterfall and the mountain overlooking the town. Holding the bag tightly, Naruto went into the forest.

It was easy finding the perfect place for the grave. He already had a place in mind. Away from humans but a place where the foxes could come and pay their respects. When Naruto reached the stream, he made a left. This was the place. It was near the waterfall and the mountain itself. He picked a spot by a tall oak tree and set the bag down. Using two clones, Naruto and his doppelgangers set to work digging a grave with their ninja tools and bare hands.

Every now and then, Naruto glanced up to look at the pelt sticking out of his bag. It had no eyes, no bones, no flesh. It was just a flat piece of fur. It wasn't much in way of a body, but it was still him. This pelt was once one of the kitsune. It still was. He deserved a grave. Naruto needed to bury him. Naruto couldn't leave him on that wall like a hunter's trophy.

Seki said that his brother died so that he and Reki could escape the humans. They were hungry and looking for food.

"And they made a pelt out of him." Naruto drove his hands into the earth and ripped the soil out. "Being made into a pelt like that... It's insulting. He deserves better. I mean, he sacrificed himself for his younger siblings. He needs a place of honor."

All three of them worked hard to dig a grave for the fox. When it was deep enough, his clones vanished and Naruto removed the pelt from his bag. Handling it with care, Naruto lowered it into the hole and covered it with soil. He flattened it down and tore two sticks from a tree. He sat on the ground and wove a rope from his bag around the two sticks, one horizontal to the other. When he was finished, he planted it in the ground right above the gave as a makeshift headstone. He gathered up some stones and placed them around the cross. Naruto stepped back to examine his work.

It wasn't much, but it was a grave.

Naruto bowed his head to the grave. "Rest in peace," he whispered.

Feeling that his work was done, Naruto started to leave.

Something was bothering him, though. He felt very confused.

"Ok, so... if that old man was the one who killed Seki's brother, then does that mean he's not the two-tailed fox? If that were the case, then he would have cursed Seki's brother, not killed him. Right? But then what's up with all the animal carvings in his house? If he doesn't like foxes or animals in general, then why have them? He hates dogs and he sleeps during the day. Doesn't that make him the fox? I thought it did. Then again, if the guy is old and doesn't get a lot of sleep at night because of dogs barking, then I guess it makes sense for him to sleep during the day. Old people do sleep a lot. And there are some people who just don't like dogs."

Naruto grabbed the sides of his head and let out a loud aggravated groan.

"Augh! This is impossible! Every time I think I have him, there's doubt! No wonder no one's found Reevo all this time!"

Maybe he should go back to the house and look for more clues. Then there was another issue. If the kitsune showed up at night and Seki's brother was killed by the old man, then the old man couldn't have been the two-tailed fox. He would have been in his fox form if it was at night.

"So it's not him either? Then who the hell is the fox?"

* * *

Thoughts?

Please review! ^-^


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

The sun lingered in the sky, promising to set within the hour. Naruto sneaked more food into his bag at dinner while Neji made plans for that evening. Convinced that the assassin would appear again, security was increased around the palace and Neji wanted someone from their group to take the night watch.

"I can do it," Naruto offered. This way if he wanted to sleep during the day, Neji wouldn't complain.

"Perhaps I should do it," Neji said. "I think it will be much easier with my Byakugan."

"Don't trouble yourself," said the prince. "You kept an eye on the assassins last night. You deserve a rest. Please, my guards can do it. You have nothing to worry about."

"I thought you would be more concerned having an assassin running loose around your land," said Sai. "You're very good at brushing it off. Either that or you have a death wish."

"Sai!" Sakura scolded.

"All I'm saying is that he doesn't seem too concerned. That's all."

Akio chuckled lightly. "I just don't see what worrying will help in this situation. You all seem very capable. I trust you. And I trust my staff as well. I don't think I have anything to worry about. Besides, I believe that assassin is long gone after seeing you capture his comrades."

"Aren't you worried he may come back for them in that case?" asked Sakura. "If not to finish the job and kill you then to free his friends."

"If he ran away and left them, I don't think he'll be coming back," he answered.

"True," Sai agreed. "It was that way when I trained with-"

"Still. I think you should be more concerned, Prince Akio."

Akio smiled at her. "It's nice that you're worried about me."

"We all are."

Naruto stuffed a slab of ham into his bag. "Well, I'm full. So I'll just..."

"We're not done talking, Naruto," said Neji.

"Oh. Well..." Naruto glanced around. Sunset was coming fast. He had to leave. He also didn't want to be caught inside again with all the food weighing down his bag. He had to get out of here before the change happened. "I was just... going to... to... uh, go check and see if the place is secure. Yeah, that's what I was doing."

"Shouldn't we come up with a plan about who does what and where?" said Sakura.

"I got this. Don't worry. Hey, the more people on guard the better, right?" Naruto started to creep closer toward the door. "So I'll just be doing that. And yeah."

Sai looked behind Naruto. "Naruto, why did you bring your bag to dinner?"

"I was lonely."

"Lonely?"

"Yeah. So bye!" Naruto ran out of the dining hall as fast as he could. "Whew!" He ran back to his room and slammed the door shut, opened the window and climbed out with the bag over his shoulder.

The sun was still out, but not for long. Judging from the long shadows on the ground, time before twilight was short. He had to hurry. He sprinted into the woods and to the clearing where the kitsune met each night. Naruto dumped the contents of the bag on the ground and tossed the bag to the side. As soon as he did so, the transformation occurred and he found himself on all fours.

"Made it."

A few minutes later, the kitsune appeared and greeted him warmly. They all shared in the food he brought and chatted about what they should do that evening. As Naruto looked around, he noticed that two foxes were missing.

"Where's Seki and Ryosuke?"

Ishi pointed his nose back toward the falls. "Over there."

Naruto wandered away from the group and further into the woods. Amidst the trees and roaring falls, he spotted them. They had their backs to him, looking at something on the ground. Naruto moved closer and stood beside them.

They were looking at the grave Naruto dug that day.

Seki turned his head when he sensed Naruto beside him. "Did you do this?"

He nodded. "Yes."

Seki stood, moved closer to Naruto and nuzzled him in thanks. Naruto felt the emotion in every fiber of this gesture. Seki was truly grateful as well as sad and relieved. "Thank you, Naruto. You brought my brother back."

Ryosuke was still eying the grave with a look of sadness and disgust.

Seki moved aside. They watched Ryosuke for a long time without a word.

"Ryosuke?" Naruto broke the silence.

The green-eyed fox didn't look at him. Even as he spoke in a quiet, sad tone. "I didn't want him to go."

Seki looked at him tearfully. Naruto listened.

"That night, I knew. I knew we shouldn't go into town. I told them so. But still, they went. Someone died."

"Ryosuke..."

He lowered his head over the grave. "He did it to protect you and Reki. To me, he was a hero. But the thing is, when it happened, all I could call him was a fool. Not for risking his life to protect his brothers, but for allowing you all to go into town in the first place. He shouldn't have died. Not like this."

Seki moved closer and brushed his head against Ryosuke's shoulder and rib. "It's our fault. It's mine and-"

"It is not your fault, Seki. I told you so the night it happened. I should have been there. I should have done something. Maybe I could have helped him."

"It's ok, Ryosuke."

"Such a thing to do to him. To take his fur and..."

Seki started crying. "I know. I know..."

They knew. They knew he was a pelt. Without even looking into the grave, they knew what had happened. Maybe they had known for a while. All of them.

Ryosuke walked over to Naruto. He lowered his head and touched his forehead to Naruto's. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"Sure."

Now they could say good-bye.

"Ryosuke."

"Yes, Naruto?"

"I want to go hunting again. Tonight."

"You sure?"

"I want to get better. I can do this."

Ryosuke gave him a smile. "Alright."

* * *

Naruto stepped tentatively around the large stone separating him from the mouse. He had been trying for a solid hour to catch one but every time he missed. This time for sure.

Don't run. Jump.

Naruto sprang out from around the stone and pounced on the mouse. It slipped from between his paws and started to run away.

Don't think like a human. Don't use your paws. It will continue to slip away.

"Rah!" Naruto lunged forward and caught the mouse in his teeth. It squirmed and squeaked. Naruto wanted to spit it out so much but this was what he had been training for. This was it. He bit down and felt the mouse pop in his mouth. He tasted blood. Naruto dropped the mouse on the ground.

He finally did it. He caught the mouse. He hunted it down and went in for the kill.

"You did it, Naruto!" Ishi hollered from the bushes. "Way to go!"

Naruto stood proudly over the dead mouse and grinned a foxy grin. "Yup!"

"Want to have another go?" asked Sonar.

"Yeah."

He hunted with the kitsune, darting around trees and uphill and over streams. It was hard and tiring work but he had finally managed to keep up with the rest of them. If one missed their mark, another one did their best to catch it. They leapt through the air, snapping at birds. Dove in the water, swimming after fish.

Then the big prize showed itself, scurrying out from under the brush. A rabbit. What a rare and lucky find. Rabbits weren't normally out this time of night and they were hard to catch. This was a team effort.

The rabbit made a dash for its role, but Sonar blocked its path, stepping over the opening. The rabbit then hopped under the safety of a bush, which Lunabell quickly dug up with her paws. Though she was the smallest and youngest of the group, she did her part to help catch their dinner. She flushed out the rabbit which then darted around a tree.

"Hurry!"

"That way!"

This was fun. It was like playing a game of tag. Naruto was enjoying this.

"On your left, Naruto!"

He turned his head. The rabbit had moved closer to his side. He could catch it. He quickly changed directions and sprang, mouth agape. His front teeth just grazed the rabbit's hind leg as it scampered away.

"Superu!"

"I'm on it!" Superu ran after it, keeping low to the ground. The rabbit's body stretched, gaining speed. It was running for its life. The rabbit made a sharp turn and Superu kept going, unable to turn that quickly. His body slammed into the trunk of a tree, his eyes on the prize rather than where he was going.

The rabbit was coming back towards them.

Now!

Naruto blocked its path and before it was able to turn, Naruto caught it in his teeth. The rabbit wiggled and twisted making it difficult to hold onto. Naruto's whole jaw vibrated and jiggled. It hurt! Naruto released his hold. The rabbit fell to the ground but it wasn't getting far with that injury. Naruto's teeth had broken through its stomach and ribs. It was going to die.

As the rabbit lay twitching on the ground, Ryosuke came up to deliver the killing blow.

The kitsune gathered around. The rabbit was just large enough for all of them to get one bite.

Ryosuke held the rabbit in his teeth and offered it to Naruto.

"Me?"

Ryosuke wasn't giving him the whole thing. He wanted him to help divide it up. Unable to use knives, they had to relay on their teeth to do any cutting.

Naruto stepped forward and took part of the rabbit in his teeth. Ryosuke pulled back and Naruto pulled a different way. Ryosuke's jaws were strong. They played tug-of-war over the rabbit until finally it broke in two. Ryosuke then divided the severed half of the rabbit among the other foxes. Naruto held the rabbit's lower half in his mouth while Seki, Lunabell and Ishi each took a mouthful. The only part remaining was the thigh. This was Naruto's share.

Naruto looked at the piece of meat on the ground with a grimace. It was raw meat. From an animal that was just alive moments ago. This was gross!

What it was like to be a fox. What it meant to be a kitsune. What it was to be one of them. Naruto had set out to find the answers. It was one thing to hear about it. It was another thing to live it. All their joys, all their hardships. Everything they had to endure he wanted to understand for himself. He couldn't really say he knew everything unless he did everything. Including this. He refused before. Now he couldn't. He had to do this.

Naruto leaned in and took the meat in his mouth and chewed it. It was so gamey. So chewy and moist. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut as he ate. He had to choke it down. He set out to do this. It had to be done. Naruto swallowed it.

It actually wasn't that bad. Would he want to do it again? Probably not.

Ryosuke was looking at him with admiration. Naruto smiled back with pride.

He was one of them.

He did everything they did. The training, the hunting, the scavenging, the eating. Everything. He felt he understood them a little more than he did at the start.

This was how they lived.

* * *

Naruto gazed out at the night sky. Once again, he felt as if he could reach out and touch the moon as he sat atop the mountain. What a beautiful sight. While the kitsune did have their hardships, there were plenty of happy moments. This view was one of the positives.

Naruto stretched out in the grass, enjoying a nice rest after hunting. There was no need to go into town tonight. They all had plenty to eat. Naruto didn't want to practice his fox magic either now that he knew that security had been tightened around the palace. He didn't want to risk running into a guard or one of his friends. That would be problematic.

As he rested, he heard some of the foxes talking. Curious, he got up to see what all the fuss was about.

"The burial was a nice gesture."

"No one said anything against it, Ryosuke. Naruto did a good thing. I'm just saying that it didn't have to happen."

"We've made peace with it. Why are you bringing it up?"

"Seki, he was your older brother. You should be upset about this as well."

"I told you I've made peace with it."

"And Reki? What about him?"

"He's still alive! I know he is!"

"I know you believe that, but it's been over a year since he vanished."

"Sonar, we know he's been cursed. We never caught the scent of his blood. He must be alive."

"Yes, along with Senbon, Tsuki, Rema, Otto... All our kitsune brethren."

"I know that! I'm just saying that things are getting worse. But maybe there's a blessing in all this."

"Like what?"

"Naruto was cursed as well, right? He's not an object. Maybe Reevo's weakening. This would be a great opportunity to try catching him and end this nightmare."

"Or get yourself killed in the process! Reki tried and look what happened to him!"

"Aurora! Seki is right beside you!"

"He's aware!"

Naruto stepped beside Lunabell and Ishi. "What's going on?"

"A touchy subject just came up."

Ishi nodded. "Sonar thinks it would be a good idea to go looking for Reevo. Seems you've inspired him."

"That's great, isn't it? More numbers, the better our chances."

Lunabell shook her head. "It's not that simple. Aurora thinks going and searching all together at once will allow Reevo to curse everyone at the same time, thus eliminating us all. There will be no one left to stand against him."

"I'll help you, though. I promised I would."

"We know. But Ryosuke thinks you shouldn't have to risk your life for our sake. Aurora thinks we should stop looking because every time we do, someone gets cursed. Sonar thinks we have a chance."

"Because his curse on me only made me into a kitsune at night and not an object?"

"Yes. He thinks you're a sign. He's certain we should try."

Ishi whispered, "He's also pissed about the... you know. Pelt."

"Yeah, I can understand that," said Naruto.

"He's pissed off at the human, yeah. But he's convinced that Reevo had something to do with it."

"How's that?"

"Because the offerings stopped around the same time Reevo ran off," barked Sonar. "If the offerings hadn't stopped, there would have been no reason for them to be in town and Seki's brother wouldn't have been killed."

"So you think Reevo's the one who put a stop to the offerings?" Naruto asked.

"He wouldn't have the means," said Aurora. "All the humans gave offerings. What could he have done to convince them all to stop? He would have had been a very powerful human in order to do that."

"Humans stick together, too, you know! All they need is one human to stop and give a reason as to why and then they'll all do it. Follow example."

"And we were attacked so quickly," pointed out Superu. "Maybe a human made up a story about us being dangerous and attacking someone. That way when we showed up, they would assume we were a threat and attack."

"Exactly!" snapped Sonar. "And who else would do that? Not just a human, but the human form Reevo stole!"

"But why would he do that?" asked Lunabell. "All he wanted was the life of a human. Why would he want to harm us? True, he never did like us, but still. It doesn't make sense to me."

"They can't be connected. We're reaching here," said Ishi. "We have no proof."

"Fine. But even if you put all that aside, he's still going around cursing us. We've lost so many already. Losing someone to a human is one thing, but to our own kind?! He was a part of our group!"

"He's trying to keep us from learning who he really is," said Ryosuke. "That's obvious. We've already concluded that. He's afraid if we find out who he is, we'll tell on him and then all the humans will gang up."

"It's bad enough that he's stolen a human's life and no doubt cursed him to keep him quiet, but he's going after us, too? That's too much!" cried Sonar. "We have to act! With Naruto helping us, I'm sure we can beat him."

"We don't even know where he is!" yelled Aurora. "Haven't you been listening? You haven't got a clue yourself. So we're just going to charge into town and attack anyone and hope for the best?"

"We don't attack humans!" said Ryosuke firmly. "We never have and never will. Remember what our ancestors told us? We do not give a reason for the humans to find us dangerous. Then what's stopping them from attacking us whenever they want and deeming us a threat? They wanted to prove that we could live side by side. And so do I."

"That ship has sailed thanks to Reevo," scoffed Sonar. "He's giving us a bad name. He's taken a human's place. That trick is to be used for fun, not to take over someone else's life!"

"He's already done so!"

"Which is why I say we put an end to this!"

"We cannot do that!" yelled Eago. "None of us are strong enough. Even if we all attack together, the fact of the matter is that we only have one tail. The lot of us. No one here is a match for him."

Naruto's heart pounded. There was hope. They did have someone who was a match for him. "Except Ryosuke!" Naruto pointed at him. "He's started to grow his second tail. He could take him!"

The kitsune all turned toward Ryosuke whose eyes went wide with fear.

"You... you're getting your second tail?"

Ryosuke's ears lowered.

"When did that happen?"

Naruto looked at Seki who was drawing a line across his throat with his paw. "What?"

"No one's supposed to know that," he hissed. "I'm the only one who knew."

"You told him?!" Ryosuke yelled.

Seki cringed. "Sorry!"

"I didn't know it was a secret!" Naruto felt awful about ratting him out. However, now that it was out in the open, this was a golden opportunity to convince Ryosuke to become the leader they all wanted him to be. "But, Ryosuke, this is a good thing, isn't it? You'll be a match for Reevo. You can stop him. Not only that, but you can become the le-"

"No!" he snapped loudly.

"But..." Why? Naruto couldn't understand. "But they need a leader. You would make a great one."

"No, I won't. Let someone else do it."

"But you would be great! Listen, they need a leader. You can do it. I know you can."

"No!" he snapped again. "I won't do it. I'm not going to be the leader."

Naruto couldn't believe how stubborn Ryosuke was being. Clearly they needed one and he was the most eligible. "But you're perfect for the job! You're strong and fast and you're caring and you have good ideas. Stop suppressing it and let your tail split already."

"You've been suppressing it?!" yelled Aurora. "How long has this been going on?!"

"You mean we could have been looking for Reevo and attacked him sooner than this? Why did you wait?" asked Eago angrily. "We could have done something by now! How long have you been doing this? We have a fighting chance because of you!"

Ryosuke turned away. "Enough. I said I won't be the leader."

"We need one!" cried Lunabell. "We wouldn't have to argue about everything, no one would sneak off on their own. Things would get done a lot quicker. You could-"

"I'm not going to be the leader. That's final."

Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn! They all had his back but Ryosuke still refused.

"Come on, Ryosuke!" Naruto pressed. "They're all in your corner backing you up. You can do this. They all have faith in you. Just become a two-tails already."

"I said no, Naruto! I won't! I don't want to be the leader so drop it!"

"Is it because you're afraid you'll end up like Reevo?"

The air became so still in that moment. Nothing made a sound. Not even the kitsune who looked the most shocked Naruto had ever seen them. Either it was because they never knew this or because Naruto had the gall to say it out loud to Ryosuke's face.

"Is that why?" Naruto broke the silence. "You're afraid of turning into him?"

Ryosuke turned his head to look at Naruto over his shoulder. He looked as if Naruto had just screamed his deepest darkest secret out loud to the whole world and then ridiculed him for it. He looked shocked and frightened. And angry.

"Just because he's that way doesn't mean you will be." Naruto wasn't trying to get on his nerves. In truth, he was trying to comfort him. However, instead of his voice being gentle, he was stern and spoke as if he were scolding him. "Just become a two-tails already!"

"I won't! I don't want to!"

"Screw that! Why would you hold yourself back like that? That's stupid! I always try my best. I never hold back!"

"There are times when you have to."

"Everyone wants you to be the leader. Just do it already!"

"I said no! I won't do it! Leave it alone!"

"Stop being such a coward!"

"Enough, Naruto! Stop it!"

"Become a two-tails! You can't fight it forever!"

"Stop!"

"If you care about these kitsune as much as I think you do, you'll become a two-tails and get it over with!"

Ryosuke turned where he stood and rushed at Naruto. He stopped an inch from Naruto's face and spat, "Drop it, Naruto!"

"Not until you do it! Suck it up and become leader!"

"I won't do it!"

"For them!"

Ryosuke slashed Naruto across the face with his claws. It stung. "Stop talking about it! Just stop when I tell you to stop!"

"Why?!" Naruto pushed him back with his front paws. "You're not the leader so you can't tell me what to do! Become the leader then tell me what you want!"

"I want you to shut up!" Ryosuke shoved him back.

"You're a coward!"

Ryosuke bit him on the shoulder. Naruto kicked him in the stomach. When Ryosuke wouldn't release his hold, Naruto bit him on the shoulder in turn. Ryosuke planted his front paw on Naruto's gut and pushed down pressing the air out of Naruto. Naruto opened his mouth, rolled onto his back and pushed Ryosuke off him with his hind legs.

"If this is how you are, Ryosuke, then I don't know why they want you to be leader!" Naruto charged and gave Ryosuke a shove with his front paws again and again. "You're not so tough! You stupid! Weak! Baby!"

Ryosuke shoved him back, harder. "You know nothing about it!"

"I know they need someone to look after them!" Naruto slashed Ryosuke across the face, drawing blood. "You can do it, can't you? Or can't you?!" Naruto slashed again.

"Why couldn't you just drop it when I said so?!" Ryosuke slashed him across the jaw and then across his forehead. "What do you know about it?!"

"I know you can do it! And so do they!" Naruto bit him again.

This time, Ryosuke snarled and pounced on Naruto, even as Naruto still held him in his teeth. Naruto was thrown backwards and onto the ground. Ryosuke landed on top of him and started clawing Naruto's exposed underside. One slash after another stung Naruto's stomach and chest and warm blood began to flow. When Naruto slashed back, Ryosuke bit him on his paw. A scream broke from Naruto's throat. Ryosuke's teeth broke through the tender pink flesh of his paw pad. Ryosuke kept him pinned as he snapped his teeth again and again, snarling.

"I won't become a two-tails!"

"What are you so afraid of?! They need you!"

"Not me!"

"They believe in you so why don't you believe in yourself?!"

"Because I never thought Reevo would do this to us! I believed in him, too!"

Naruto bit Ryosuke's muzzle and Ryosuke quickly turned his head to the side and chomped down on Naruto's nose. "Ow!" Ryosuke held Naruto down with his paw and bit Naruto on the neck, tearing off some of his fur. "Ahh!" Naruto kicked Ryosuke in the stomach and tried to get up. Ryosuke easily overpowered him and sent him back down. He bit Naruto's rib and his upper leg as he tried to get back up.

Ryosuke was strong. Stronger than him. Naruto hadn't been a fox as long as Ryosuke had. He had to learn everything that came so naturally to them. No wonder they wanted Ryosuke to be leader. He was clearly strong enough.

"You're not Reevo!" Naruto snapped.

"He's a two-tails!"

"So you're worried that you'll become like him when you get another tail?! That you'll change?"

Ryosuke gave Naruto one final swipe across the face before stopping the assault. He let Naruto up. Both were panting and bloody. Naruto got the worst of it. He was covered in scratches from nose to tail. Even his back was stinging from scratches and throbbing from being thrown down so many times.

Sonar, Lunabell, Aurora, Sammi, Egao, Superu, Ishi, and Seki all watched from where they stood, helplessly. None of them tried to stop the fight. No doubt this was one of their kitsune ways. If one challenged the other, as Naruto had done, it was a fight between the two of them and no one was allowed to interfere. Ryosuke could have killed Naruto in that fight but he showed restraint. Naruto provoked him but he still managed to control his rage to a point. Now that the fight was over, there was nothing to be said. They continued to watch them in silence.

Ryosuke, though the victor, hung his head and walked away toward the cliff.

It wasn't over. Naruto wanted to finish this. Not with claws and teeth but something else. Something else he was good at without realizing it.

Naruto followed Ryosuke to the cliff and refused to leave. Not until this was done.

"You're not Reevo," he said.

Ryosuke kept his head lowered as he sat by the cliff overlooking the town below.

"You're not Reevo," he repeated. "Ok? You're not. So you won't end up like him."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked quietly.

"Because you're you." Naruto changed his voice to a more gentle tone. "Just because you get a second tail doesn't mean you'll become like him."

Ryosuke turned away. "He has two tails. He became worse."

"Wasn't he always like this?" Naruto asked. "Didn't you guys tell me that Reevo always hated being a kitsune and living the life of a fox? He always envied humans and wanted to live as one. He was always like that. He never liked any of this. You do and always did. You love being a fox and you love your friends. Reevo doesn't. The second tail didn't make him this way. He was always this way. He used the tail as an excuse."

Ryosuke glanced over his shoulder at Naruto.

"When he got his second tail, then he had the power to do what he always wanted. He didn't change, Ryosuke. He was always that way. He used the tail as an excuse. You see? It's not the tail. It's him. And it's you. He chose to do this."

"How can you be sure?" Ryosuke's voice was sad and fearful. "How can you be sure that it isn't the power or the second tail that does it? When you're capable of doing something... then won't you do it? Just because you could? Maybe it's beyond your control."

Naruto moved closer to Ryosuke. "Let me tell you something. It's about me and a friend of mine, ok? We both had this great power placed inside of us from terrible beasts. It made us monsters in the eyes of a lot of people. I was always alone and hated and no one ever told me why. But eventually I found some friends and I became close to a bunch of people. Some knew about this beast and didn't care. But my friend, he had the same life as me. I kept trying to make friends and do good things even when no one thought I could. With my friend, he gave up. Since everyone called him a monster, he embraced it and decided to be bad because he figured they would hate him no matter what. Not only that but if they called him a monster, then he must have been. There was no way he could be good and no one would ever like him so he might as well do terrible things and prove them right. He gave up, and I didn't."

"What happened to him?"

"Well, we met each other and that's when I found out he was like me. It scared me a little to know that I could have ended up just like him. We ended up fighting and at the end of the battle, I told him about how we were the same but no matter what there was always hope. I told him he could change. That people could like him and that he didn't have to be a monster. That I would be his friend. That way, we could be lonely together. Out of everyone in the whole world, at least we could relate to each other. And you know what? He changed. He turned it all around. He started to protect people and he even became the leader of his own village. Everyone looks up to him and he has a lot of people who care about him. Even the people who were once afraid of him became his friends. It all got better."

Ryosuke lowered his head again.

"It's all about choices. Just because you're capable of doing something or have a certain power doesn't mean it's destiny. I have another friend who thought you couldn't change yourself. That everything was predestined and that fate couldn't be changed. He learned he was wrong and now he's better, too." Naruto lowered his head to look at Ryosuke's face. "My friend and I had the same power but two different things happened. Same thing with you."

Ryosuke still looked worried. "I do care about my friends. I love them all. That's why I don't want too hurt them. I'm worried if I do become a two-tails I'll become like Reevo. But I'm also worried that if I become leader, that I'll lead them to ruin. I don't want to hurt them."

"It'll be fine. You're caring and protective. You won't do anything to hurt them."

Ryosuke lifted his head. "Can you guarantee it?"

"Uh..." Naruto wasn't sure what to say.

"Can you promise that I won't make things worse for them? That I won't become like Reevo? That I can protect them?"

Naruto was still silent. Not because of what Ryosuke just said or how sadly he said it. But because of the tears flowing from his eyes. Ryosuke was crying. He was so afraid of becoming someone else and hurting people he cared about. He was afraid changing into a two-tails would change him.

Ryosuke started to sob. "Can you promise that?" he cried, tearing running down his muzzle. "Can you?"

Naruto nuzzled him in the way the kitsune did when comforting each other. "Anyone who worries that much and cares that deeply for his friends can't become like him. You'll be fine."

Even so, Ryosuke continued to cry. His tears fell from the cliff's edge and mixed in the pool of water below, made by the waterfall.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

Naruto dragged himself out of bed the next morning and into the large washroom for a bath. He was still covered in dirt, grass and scratches from last night's hunting trip and the brawl that soon followed. Naruto soaped himself with a soft cloth and watched the water around his feet turn to mud. He was even filthier than he thought. A leaf fell from his hair and landed in the puddle. As he rinsed himself off, the cuts on his shoulders, arms and back began to sting.

"Ow, ow, ow! Damn it, Ryosuke..!" Naruto pressed his hand over the cut on his upper leg, wincing. "I know I crossed a line last night, but really."

Last night was a bit of an awakening for Naruto, however. Not just about how Ryosuke felt about becoming a two-tails but also how strong he was. Naruto would have never known if he hadn't fought him himself. He never knew Ryosuke was that strong. If he could get Naruto on his back like that and keep him there. He was fit to be the leader. He was certainly strong enough.

"He made me look like a weakling."

Maybe if he was a ninja at the time, Naruto could have handled him, but as a fox, Ryosuke clearly had the upper hand. Naruto wasn't used to fighting like that. His body was different. His reach and muscles changed. There were ways Naruto couldn't bend as a fox. So many things he couldn't do.

As much as it made Naruto realize he wasn't a match for Ryosuke as a fox, it made him thankful. Not because he was weak, but because it showed how strong Ryosuke was. If even Naruto wasn't a match for him, then it proved Ryosuke's strength and how much he deserved to be leader. Even if it made Naruto feel weak, he knew this was a good thing. After all, if Ryosuke couldn't take down Naruto in an unfamiliar form, how could he expect to protect his fellow kitsune? Ryosuke had to win the fight. This was a good thing.

Naruto finished rinsing off and climbed into the tub of hot water which only irritated his scratches even more. "Ouch..!" He sank into the water slowly. Once he got past the stinging sensation, the water felt good on his sore muscles.

Naruto shut his eyes letting all his stress seep out of his body and into the water.

When he opened them again, he saw Neji staring at him from the other side of the tub. "Ahh!" Naruto almost jumped out of the water. "How long have you been here?"

"A while. You didn't notice me?"

"No!"

"Even when you were getting in the water? I've been here the whole time."

Naruto shot him a look. "You could have said something..." Naruto raised his arms up to rest on the edge of the tub. "Ah..!" His muscles were throbbing.

"What happened to you?" asked Neji. He didn't sound concerned as much as curious.

"Uh... I fell from a tree," he lied. "Last night when I was keeping watch."

"You fell from a tree?"

"Yeah. That's what I said."

Neji studied his face as if searching for signs of a lie. Naruto tried to keep his face as straight as possible. Then Neji simply said, "Ok."

"Ok?"

"Ok."

Now Naruto was watching him. He gave up on that a little too easily. Naruto couldn't accept that Neji accepted that answer without saying anything further on the matter. "Alright." Naruto would just leave it at that.

* * *

After a peaceful bath, Naruto went back to bed and slept for a good part of the day. This time he was allowed, claiming that he was on watch last night. Whatever got him some rest. When he woke up in the afternoon, Naruto was feeling a lot better. Most of his cuts had healed and the soreness throughout his body was almost completely gone. He barely had any pain.

"A little rest and I'm good to go." Naruto was definitely feeling a lot better. He climbed out of bed and, just for the fun of it, ran once around his room on all fours. He stood up and went out the door. "I wonder what everyone is doing right now."

There was so sign of Sai or Sakura anywhere. Naruto began his search. He passed by several maids and servants and even a few guards but no ninja. He checked in different rooms until at last he found Sakura.

Talking with the prince.

"Now what?" Naruto went into the room. "What's up, Sakura?" he said loudly enough for them to jump.

"Oh, Naruto." She looked from the prince back to him. "We were just..."

"I was just inviting Sakura to join me for a private dinner tonight."

"She's busy."

Sakura frowned. "Don't answer for me!"

"Then you tell him you're busy."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Akio smirked. "He should really have more manners when speaking to a woman."

"Sakura's not a woman!"

She punched him.

"Ow!"

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. "My lord, one of the ninja wishes to speak with you," said a servant.

"Show him in."

Neji was escorted into the room. "Prince Akio, I want to ask you something."

"Yes?"

Naruto and Sakura whispered their argument while Neji and the prince had their own conversation. After exchanging words, Naruto turned away in a huff. "You didn't have to hit me so hard. I didn't think I was being that rude!"

"Well, you were. Learn to keep your mouth shut once in a while!"

"I see," said Neji. "Alright. I'll keep an eye out. We want to make sure they aren't more assassins."

"I did a thorough check on these people. I'm sure they're fine."

Naruto looked up. "What's going on?"

"You were in bed at the time we discussed this. You never listen anyway so I figured we would tell you later," said Neji. "It has little to do with the mission."

"Tell me what?"

Prince Akio answered. "It would seem we have a fox problem in town. I've gotten complaints from people telling me how they're raiding the farm and digging through trash. It's becoming a huge problem. So I've hired some hunters to go into the mountain and get rid of them."

Naruto's heart almost stopped. He was so shocked at first he couldn't speak. The images of those foxes he had become friends with floated into his mind and forced him to react.

"You're... you're gonna have them killed?"

Akio nodded.

"You can't!" Naruto screamed so loud, it made Sakura and Neji flinch. "No, you can't do that!"

"Naruto!" Sakura turned around. "What's gotten into you?"

Akio raised an eyebrow. "You speak as if I had sentenced your closest friends to death."

"Practically!"

"What are you saying? You're good friends with these foxes?"

"I-" Naruto broke off there. He was friends with them, but if confessed that he would have a whole lot of explaining to do. He had to find something else to say and quick before he said something he would regret. "I thought you were an animal lover! How could you get some hunters to kill foxes?"

Akio sighed heavily. "I hate to do this. I really do. It's not something I want. But the people in town have been complaining. I have little choice. I've already called them. The hunters will be here today. They're going into the mountain tonight."

Before Naruto could protest, another servant entered the room. "My lord, there's work to be done. There are some papers you need to sign."

"Be right there." Akio threw up his hands in a shrug. "It's out of my hands, Naruto. I'm sorry."

Naruto's ears stopped working properly. He couldn't hear the prince walk away or Sakura ask what had gotten him so worked up. All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat. He kept his eyes on the ground. Images of foxes swirled around his feet, leaping and dancing as they made their way up and down the mountain in search of food and play. He saw them smile at him and call his name with joy. He saw their fox fire, heard their voices, felt their fur.

He saw the pelt of Seki's brother. His stomach was in knots. Soon, they would all be...

"No!"

Sakura jumped back. "What?"

Naruto pushed past her on his way out the door. "I can't let him do that! I can't let him send hunters out there to kill them."

"But they're becoming a problem," said Neji. "He has to put his people ahead of anything else. If these foxes are an issue, then he really has no choice."

"The hell he doesn't!"

"Naruto, the people are concerned the foxes will attack them. They might have rabies or carry other diseases," said Sakura. "He's worried about their well-being. Plus, if the foxes are causing destruction in town, then..."

"They're not doing anything wrong! They're looking for food! Did anyone mention that?"

Neji frowned. "How do you know that's what they're doing?"

"Why else would they be in town where people are? Normally foxes stay away from people, don't they?"

"Naruto, the mountain is a big place with lots of plants and animals. I'm sure they have food up there."

"Not enough, Sakura. That's why they're here in town." If only there was a way to stop this. Naruto had to try. "Maybe the prince doesn't know this. Maybe if I tell him what's going on, I can get him to call off this hunt."

Or better yet, get the offerings to start up again. That would solve everything. After all, it was the royal family that started the offerings in the first place. Akio's parents started that deal years ago to keep the peace. Akio could do the same thing. He could present offerings to the kitsune and there would be no more raids. Maybe Naruto could even find out why the offerings stopped in the first place.

"I have to talk to the prince. Maybe I can reason with him."

Naruto demanded the servants to take him to the prince, saying it was an emergency. They took Naruto to where the prince was working in a large office. There were guards by the door and along the walls, making sure he was safe. Akio sat behind a desk piled high with papers and books. He was sorting and filing and signing calmly, as if the hunt didn't effect him in the slightest.

"This ninja wishes to speak with you. Says it's urgent."

"Of course." Akio pointed to the chair across from him. "Sit down, Naruto. What's on your mind?"

Naruto sat down. "You know. The hunt."

Akio continued to file papers. "Ah, yes. It's awful, isn't it? But my duty is to my people. I have to do what they want. I must do what's best for them."

"But the foxes mean no harm."

Akio didn't look up. "They are wild animals, Naruto. Unpredictable. Key word: wild. They could attack people at any time. Especially if they're in the town. A few people saw them from their windows. That's too close. They're digging through trash."

"They're looking for food," Naruto said firmly. "They're just hungry."

"Then they should be content with that's in the mountain. The wilds are vast, Naruto. They should have plenty to eat up there."

"But they don't. They eat faster than the plants can grow back. They're hunting animals to the point of extinction. Any surviving animals have fled the area. There just isn't enough."

"They've managed so far. Why should now be any different?"

"Because before they had these offerings that people would leave out for them. It was a big help."

Akio looked up from his papers. "How do you know about that?"

Naruto swallowed. "The staff told me."

"I see."

"But when the offerings stopped, this happened. You should put out food for them again. That will end this."

Akio went back to his papers. "No. I will not cater to wild animals. And I will not put out my people for these things which may or may not keep true to the deal. Why should I let my people starve so that the foxes can eat?"

"The town's a big place and they would only have to put out scrapes. It all adds up and it helps more than you think. It would ease their burden. Besides, the amount of food isn't the problem. It's just scrapes. It won't effect the people at all. No one has to starve. And what the foxes are getting from the trash is what people throw away. Things they could be leaving out as an offering."

Akio ignored him.

"I thought you were an animal lover, Akio."

He lifted his gaze. "I am. Which is why it breaks my heart to have to do this."

"You don't seem that heartbroken to me."

"I have to do what's best for my people. They're afraid these foxes are going to attack them. Who knows what they could be carrying?"

"They're fine!" Naruto spat. "They won't attack humans. They're just looking for food! That's all. Why can't you just leave out a couple pieces of food and be done with it? That's all you have to do! All these big feasts you have here and you can't spare a couple of scraps?"

"I told you, Naruto. I will not cater to them. It will only encourage bad behavior. That's why you don't feed a dog at the table. And I still have to do what my people want. If they feel threatened I have to do something about it."

"You didn't do much when it was your own life on the line."

"That's different. I care more about my people than I do myself."

"Then what about the foxes? They live on this land, too. Yet you don't seem to give a damn about them."

"That's because I'm not one of them," the prince said calmly. "I am not a fox."

"So you only care about your own kind? Is that it?" Naruto put his hands on the table and leaned over to get a little closer to the prince. "Look, what you do effects everyone. It isn't just about people or foxes. Everyone's involved here. They only come into town to look for food. Food which you guys should be putting out. That's what your parents did. Why stop now? Continue their work! If you put out the food, then they won't have a reason to come into town anymore. You can end this."

"And I am." Akio set down the papers in his hand. "I called some hunters to come and take care of the problem. No more foxes, no more issue. We won't have to worry about them coming into town anymore and attacking people."

"But no one's been attacked yet!"

"I am not willing to take that chance. I will not wait around for it to happen. I will protect my people, Naruto. And that means ending it before it begins."

"You can end it without anyone having to die!" Naruto pleaded. "Please! You don't have to do this. You don't have to kill them just because you're afraid of what they might do. You can't do that. They haven't done anything wrong!"

"And I'm supposed to wait around until they do? No, Naruto. I'm ending it now."

"You can't do that! Just put out the offerings and it will all end."

"If I have them killed, it will end, too. And this way we never have to worry about them again."

"You can't kill them!" Naruto yelled across the table.

"It's too late. It's going to happen."

"No! You can't!" Not his friends. Not the ones looking out for him. Not the foxes he had grown close to. Not them.

"They've become a problem. I'm putting a stop to it."

"I said no!" In a fury, Naruto grabbed the side of the table and flipped it, sending papers airborne. Now there was nothing between him and the prince and Akio could no longer hide behind his papers.

The guards were upon him at once. Before Naruto could do anything, the guards had their weapons drawn and pointed right at him, protecting their prince. Naruto didn't resist and he didn't fight back. He was too beside himself with rage.

Slowly, Akio stood up. Naruto remained where he was. Mostly because the guards wouldn't let him rise. "Listen to me, Naruto. What's done is done. I've already called them and they'll be here any minute. I have to protect my people. If the foxes are smart and wish to live, then they will flee the land and move on just like all the other animals you spoke of. They may not have to die. If they run fast enough."

Naruto's body was still shaking. Even if the prince was giving them a way out, it wasn't much of one. They just wanted the foxes gone. No compromises. Just gone. One way or another. Naruto took one deep breath after another trying to keep his temper in check but he still wanted to take a swing at him. He wanted to punch the prince so much.

What was best for his people. He had to do what they wanted him to do.

They didn't really know about the kitsune or what their story was. They didn't have to live like that. But Naruto did. He lived as one of them. Was trained by them. He knew about their hardships and their bonds. Maybe if the prince lived as one of them he would understand. Not just him but everyone in town. Maybe then they would understand.

Naruto stood up and the tips of the weapons pressed into his shoulders and neck. Ignoring it, Naruto gave Akio one final look and turned away. He shoved the guards aside and stormed out the door, slamming it shut.

Naruto stomped down the hall, keeping his eyes on the ground, focused.

They had to die? Because they were hungry? It wasn't fair. If they tried to reason with humans, it was always a disaster. The last few times they tried, they were attacked on the spot. Only a human could reason with other humans. They tried. Naruto tried. He failed, too.

Did someone only look after their own kind? Was that how the world worked? To hell with everyone else? The humans didn't care what happened to the kitsune. They only cared about themselves. To them, they were just animals. They were just a problem. They weren't them.

Naruto had the great opportunity to live life as both human and kitsune and see things from both sides. The kitsune weren't completely without fault themselves, but they didn't deserve death.

"Something has to be done. I can't let it end like this."

"What's that?"

Naruto stopped and looked up. Sai was standing in front of him holding a towel over his arm. "Hey, Sai. Uh... what are you doing?"

"I'm on my way to take a bath. What are you doing?"

Naruto lowered his head. Of all the people to run into, why did it have to be Sai? Naruto was facing quite a conflict and needed to talk this out with someone to help sort out what needed to be done. Sai was... well, Sai. He was trained differently. There was only the mission. He had to remove himself from the situation and have no emotion or attachment. How would he be able to understand what Naruto was going through? Then again, maybe he could be helpful in some way. It was worth a try.

"Hey, Sai..." Naruto began slowly. "Just asking here but... You see, uh... You know about the prince calling for hunters to come and kill these foxes, right?"

"Yes. I was there when he informed us so we wouldn't think they were enemies."

"Well, the thing is... the foxes haven't attacked anyone but he's going to have them killed anyway."

"He was getting complaints from people in town about the foxes bothering people. Digging through trash, the farm and everything. They've become a nuisance."

"Yeah... But the thing is, the foxes are only going into town to find food. There isn't enough in the mountain for them. They used to get food from the people here but that stopped recently so now they have to go into town to find food. Especially since they've eaten almost everything in the mountain."

"How do you mean?" Sai asked.

"Well, they ate all the plants and they need time to grow back. They're hunting down smaller animals and the population has gone down. Other animals have moved on due to the shortage of food. If the foxes get offerings again, they won't have to hunt as much and the plants will grow and the smaller animals will have something to eat and things will get better."

Sai paused. "I'm not sure it works that way. How would providing foxes food cause plants to grow and provide other animals with food?"

"Because then they'll have time to grow and stuff."

"Yes... but then the smaller animals would have to wait for the food, too. It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me. There's still the same amount and if that's the case then-"

"Look, when it was explained to me it made sense. Ok?"

Sai paused again. "Unless, of course, it's because the foxes were eating more food than the mountain provided because there was a shortage of another food supply. In which case that would make sense. Sort of like having some uninvited guests show up at a party and eat the food that was intended for the guests you were expecting. No more than that."

"Yeah, yeah. That's it. That's how it is. They had to go to other resources because of another shortage so now they're eating other animals' food." Maybe Sai did get this after all. "So you see the problem? This whole thing can be avoided if people left out scarps for the foxes."

Sai nodded. "I see. But the prince won't do it?"

"Right. And I don't want the foxes to die because people have to be stubborn. It's such a simple thing to do. Most of the food ends up is the trash anyway so this is putting it to good use."

"But the prince won't do it. So really, there's nothing you can do about it, Naruto."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear. Naruto sighed. "Well, the prince did say that if the foxes were smart they would run away before they get hunted down and killed."

"That works, too." Sai grinned.

Without tipping him off too much, Naruto told Sai something else that was really important. "But the thing is, this is their home. And they do have friends here. If they run away, not only would they be abandoning their home, but they would be leaving their friends behind." All the foxes that were cursed by Reevo were still here waiting to be rescued. Including Reki, Seki's younger brother and the only sibling he had left alive. "Their choices are die or run. But if they run, they'll be abandoning their loved ones. Sai, what would you do?"

Sai didn't have to think long on the question. "Well, I was trained to abandon my comrades if they were weighing me down. If it was a choice of life or death, leave them behind. Especially if they prevent you from completing your mission."

Naruto sighed. He should have known better than to ask him.

"However, comrades have your back. If they have strong bonds, then they will not be willing to do that. But if that's the case, then they will all die together. Which seems a bit foolish, doesn't it?" Sai studied Naruto for a moment then added, "Although... a few people have mentioned that living without friends is no life at all and isn't worth living. I believe you've said something like that before, Naruto."

Naruto lifted his head.

Sai smiled at him in his usual way. "I suppose if it is something worth protecting, then by all means."

Naruto looked at the floor again. He nodded. "Yeah. Got it. Thanks." Naruto continued down the hall, his mission clear.

"The way you talk, Naruto," Sai called to his back, "It's almost as if you are close to these foxes in the mountain. As if you were comrades."

That wasn't too far from the truth.

Naruto grinned.

As he got further down the hall, he heard Ryosuke's voice echoing in his mind. "Can I protect them?"

Voices caught Naruto's ear and he looked out the window. The hunters had arrived.

"Can I protect them?" Ryosuke's tearful expression floated into Naruto's mind. "Can I protect them?"

As the hunters started to unload their weapons and traps, Naruto saw the faces of all the kitsune that had become his friends. Ryosuke, Sonar, Lunabell, Aurora, Sammi, Egao, Superu, Ishi, and Seki. He saw the inside of the hunters' cart, their trophies from successful hunting trips lining the wooden walls. One pelt after another.

"Can I?" Naruto asked himself.

* * *

Can he?

It's Naruto, after all ^^'

Please review! ^-^


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

Since it was still daylight, Naruto put all of his ninja skills to good use keeping track of the hunters and everything they did. They set traps in the forest which Naruto disabled and replaced with a few tricks of his own. He marked where he had left each trap for later that evening. He overheard what the hunters were saying and everything they planned. Since they knew foxes mostly came out at night, they decided to going into the mountain that evening to hunt them down. The prince wanted them all gone.

Naruto was so busy keeping track of everything the hunters were doing that he did not return to the palace for dinner. He didn't even tell the rest of his team where he was. This was more important. It was a good thing he decided to stay and keep watch over them because he overheard them mention that one hunter was going to be on the farm that night just in case any foxes came down to raid the garden. There were four hunters in total. If one was going to be on the farm, then the remaining three would be in the mountain.

As the sun began to set, the hunters gathered their weapons and started to move out.

Naruto had to warn the kitsune.

What he really wanted to do was go over to the hunters and beat them up. He couldn't. He knew that wouldn't be enough to stop them since they were hired to do a job and that it would only get him in more trouble. The kitsune had to be warned. He would help them fight. Their lives were at steak.

As the clouds began to turn red in the evening sky, Naruto began to run. He raced through the town and into the woods. The hunters were just starting to leave the palace grounds. Naruto knew where the kitsune met up but he hoped to catch them before they made their way down the mountain to the small clearing. It would take a while for an average human to climb up the side of a mountain to the cliff towering over the town. For a ninja, it would take mere seconds or even minutes depending on how treacherous the land formation was. Rocks could always shift and slide underfoot making things more difficult.

Naruto made it to the face of the mountain and started to climb as fast as he could. He jumped from one stone to another, thankful he was still human for the time being. However, as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Naruto lost his balance and fell. He gripped the rock in front of him with both paws and clung for dear life. A fall from this height would surely kill him. Especially as he was now. He swung his legs up and managed to throw himself on top of the rock to continue his climb. Just another few leaps and he was there. Two jumps. Now one. His paws touched grass.

Naruto looked around. His shadow was no longer visible on the ground. The birds had stopped their songs and the insects were just beginning theirs.

From the trees atop the mountain emerged the kitsune. They were starting to head out.

"Guys!"

Lunabell was the first to notice him. "Hey, everyone, look. Naruto's come up the mountain to greet us."

"That's a first," said Aurora. "We usually meet him down below."

"He must be getting an early start."

Naruto bounded forward to stop them from going down the mountain. "Wait! Stop! Don't!"

"Don't what?" asked Eago. "Something wrong?"

The other foxes were leaving the trees now. Everyone was present. Even Ryosuke.

"Guys, you can't go down the mountain," said Naruto. "It's important. I came here to warn you."

"Warn us what?" asked Sonar.

Without thinking about how they would react to such news, Naruto blurted it out in one breath. "Too many people have been complaining about you guys coming down from the mountain and going into town to get food so the prince hired some hunters to go after you."

Sheer panic.

"What?!"

"Hunters?!"

"They're here tonight," Naruto added. It wasn't the best idea.

All the kitsune were terrified. They all started yelling at once and some were so worked up they couldn't keep still so their paws continued to stamp the ground as if ready to run.

"What do we do?!"

"They're coming to kill us!"

"Hang on! Hang on!" Naruto chimed in. "Don't worry. I kept track of their movements all day. I disabled the traps they left in the woods."

Sammi turned to him. "You did?"

"Yup." Naruto smiled. "I'm not going to let them hurt you."

"Be that as it may, they're still coming for us, right?" said Aurora. "We have to do something."

"I'll help you fight back!" Naruto yipped.

"No," said Ryosuke firmly. "We do not attack humans. That is a basic rule of kitsune. We don't attack humans. We are to give them no reason to think we are dangerous. By trying to harm them now, it will only give them proof and then more people will come and try to hurt us."

"Well, maybe not attack, but we can still fight back, right?"

Sonar looked around. "It will take them some time to climb the mountain if that is what they are planning. Normal humans can't climb up that steep part easily. If they go around the other side it will be easier but it will take some time because the distance is so long. Either way, it will be hard for them."

Lunabell was close to tears. "Is this our fault? Is the prince mad at us for breaking the rules and going into town? Is that why he's doing this?"

The other kitsune tried to comfort her. "No. It's alright."

"It's only because we were so hungry. That's all. Why do we have to die for that?" she cried.

"The humans shouldn't have stopped the offerings," said Eago. "It's them who started it."

"But why did they stop?"

"We don't know."

"Let's get back to the hunters. We are in the middle of a huge problem. We have to do something about it."

The kitsune looked at each other.

"What do we do?"

"Maybe we should hide?"

"They'll find us. They're hunters. They won't leave until the job is done."

"Then should we fight back like Naruto said?"

"How do we fight humans without looking like the enemy?"

"Yeah, we can't go against our rules. Never harm humans."

"What if we run away?"

"But this is our home!"

"That's right! We were born here. Our ancestors were born here. This was our land until the humans came and built that town down below. They pushed us up the mountain. We were here first."

"But we tried to live in peace and now all this!"

"We had an agreement."

"Maybe we should have chased them out. It was our land first. How much more are they going to take from us?"

"There's enough room for both," said Ryosuke. "Even our ancestors saw that. They needed a place to live, too. We both have a right to be here. We can live in peace. We did in the past."

"But now look, Ryosuke! There isn't enough food anymore. The offerings stopped and when we try to feed ourselves, they try to kill us. If they had never shown up in the first place, we would have had all the land and none of the human problem."

"But the humans also provide for us. Sure when the town was built, it pushed a lot of animals out but a lot remained. The humans waste food, sure, but those scraps were what we got. It helped us."

"But now they've stopped."

"I'm aware of that. But we can't condemn them. After all, I seem to recall a past when we pulled pranks and scared the humans for laughs."

The kitsune didn't deny it.

"Besides, we help each other without realizing it half the time. The mice we eat in order to survive out here... If we didn't eat them, the mice would go into town and eat the human's food and get into their homes. Humans don't want an infestation of mice. We help them. And maybe dangerous animals and creatures either respect or fear kitsune so we're also protecting the humans from them. If we left the land, they would be open to all sorts of dangers. In turn, humans give us food. But they also outlawed hunting on this land so we never have to worry about being killed."

"Yeah, until now."

"It's only because we come into town," said Seki.

"Yeah. So if the offerings start up again we won't have to. Why are they being so stubborn?"

"Driven out of our own home..." Sammi shook his head. "I hate this."

Naruto saw that there was no leadership among them. They did need a leader. No one could decide what to do or how to go about it. Some thought it was all because of the humans and some knew it was also their fault for driving the humans to do this. Naruto had to help them. "Hey, guys. Listen."

"What?"

"I told you that you can fight back, but that doesn't mean attacking the humans."

"How else are we supposed to do it then?" asked Sonar.

"Easy," Naruto said smiling. "You did it all the time before your agreement, right? Pranks! You guys can us your fox magic to scare the humans away. Or at least confuse them so much that they give up and leave and never want to come back."

The kitsune took that into consideration. From the looks on their faces, Naruto could tell that they thought it was a good idea.

"I'm not sure..."

"I mean we could, but..."

"Will that work?"

"I like the idea."

"What if it's not good enough? Is there something else?"

Naruto sighed. They were still unsure. Even if a few of them wanted to do it, others who disagreed would talk them out of it or put the idea down as a bad one. He couldn't get them to do what he wanted. It was like trying to get a group of indecisive children to play a game no one could agree on. This was impossible.

Ryosuke lifted his head and looked at his confused and frightened kitsune. The threat was here and what were they doing? Taking a deep breath, Ryosuke stood and spoke confidently to his fellow kitsune.

"The way I see it, we have two options. We can either run or we can fight."

The kitsune lifted their gazes toward him.

"If we leave, it would mean abandoning everything we've ever known. Everything we've ever had. We've been here all our lives. Long before humans came along and built their home in the shadow of our own. We have friends here. Family. This is our home. Will we abandon it after all these years? The kitsune who came before us didn't. They remained on this land and found a way to make it work. Will we do what they did not and leave? Even if it is easier, even if it is an option, will we do it? Can we do that to ourselves? Abandon our home and everyone in it? Leave behind our friends? While we possess the ability to run away, those who have been cursed cannot. Will we leave them behind? Will we abandon our family?"

Seki's eyes glittered in the light of the arriving stars, no doubt thinking about his brother.

"They are still alive. Are we to just leave them?"

The kitsune couldn't live with themselves if they did that. Running was not an option.

"We can stand and fight. That is our other option. We can put our skills to good use and help defend our home. We can make it safe for when we are reunited with our friends and family. We can show the humans that we are not some mere simple animals. But that we are so much more than that. We are kitsune. We are foxes with the ability to speak as humans, reason like humans and we have power beyond that of either kind. For years, we have been on this land and never moved, no matter how hard things became. When food was scarce, we remained. When our friends were cursed, we stayed. We did not abandon our home. We did not abandon our friends or our family. We protect them!"

When Ryosuke spoke, he sounded like a true leader. Even Naruto felt like following him, no matter where it took him. He believed in him. And now, clearly, Ryosuke believed in himself.

"Will we abandon them or will we fight?"

The kitsune stood with their heads held high. They weren't going anywhere.

This was their home.

"Then we fight." Ryosuke turned his head toward the cliff. "We will show them what we can do. We will defend our home and those precious to us."

"So what's the plan, Ryosuke?" asked Sonar.

They truly did see him as a leader. With Ryosuke taking charge, Naruto was sure they would make it far. They needed him.

"It's as Naruto said. We use our skills." Ryosuke turned his head to Naruto. "You saw them and you've been watching them all day, right? How does it look? Their weapons and traps, their location, everything."

"When I last saw them before I changed, they were just leaving the palace. There are four hunters. One is going to stay on the farm, but the other three are going into the mountain."

"Alright." Ryosuke looked back at the other kitsune. "We can do this. Let's get ready everyone."

* * *

The tall grass seemed to shush the hunters as they walked through the forest, their heavy footsteps too loud for those that lived here. Even the insects flew off as the hunters walked by, frightened of these giants and their weapons. They stepped out of the grass and into a clearing.

"I would really rather do this during the day," whispered one of the hunters. "Can't see a damn thing."

"You know foxes sleep during the day," said the second. "It would be next to impossible to find them. We would have better luck looking during their hunting hours."

"Makes little sense to me."

"Don't worry," said the third. "Any we miss, we'll check the traps in the morning for their bodies. Unless they chew their legs off first. Won't last long if they do that, though."

"Maybe the people around here should learn to cover their trash so they won't attract animals. It's their own fault."

"Shut up. We're getting paid aren't we?"

"For a prince he isn't offering much."

"You two keep your voices down."

"You're talking, too, genius."

Naruto, now master of new skills, sneaked up behind the hunters with ease. Using a combination of ninja skills and fox hunting skills, Naruto easily followed behind the men without being noticed. Naruto's heart was pounding from excitement. It was like being a child again. He wanted to pop out and surprise them, like a child hiding behind a curtain and then jumping out to yell 'boo'. This was so much fun. Fun as much as it was serious.

One stealthy step at a time, Naruto crept behind the hunters. His paws pressed into the soft soil as he walked. He made sure to inhale as much as possible as he stalked them, as Ryosuke taught him. He had to remember their scent in case they separated.

One of the hunters began to turn around. Naruto jumped back behind a tree.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I was just making sure nothing was behind us."

"I told you to keep quiet. You'll scare them off."

Naruto smirked. "I'll give them something to be scared of." He moved around the trees until he was right behind them. "Fox fire."

A small blue flame appeared. It danced and waved and skipped closer to the men and then it began to grow in size. Bigger and bigger until it took shape and a large bear stood behind the men. The illusion stood perfectly still, waiting for them to turn around.

As if sensing something, one of the men looked back. "Bear!"

The other men spun around.

It was a staring contest. The bear was motionless and so were the men. The men were too afraid to move out fear it would provoke the animal into attacking. The bear didn't move because Naruto didn't want it to.

Until now. Smirking, Naruto moved the bear. It raised its arms and opened its mouth in a silent roar.

Two of the men ran. The third one stayed behind and raised his weapon. He took aim at the bear's head and fired off one arrow. It passed right through the illusion and into a tree. Naruto climbed up the tree and bit the arrow in half, making it useless in case the hunter tried to retrieve it. The illusion remained where it was.

"What the hell?" The hunter moved closer. He knew he hit it. Where was the arrow?

Naruto turned the illusion around and made it walk away. He didn't want the man to find out that the bear wasn't really there.

Further away, the two men screamed, causing the hunter to turn back. "You ok?" he called into the woods. When he didn't receive an answer, he wandered deeper into the woods.

Naruto followed behind him. He stopped running when he saw the two hunters from before running away from something in the trees. Giant bats. They were swarming around their heads, flapping their wings and screeching. In the branches, Naruto saw Seki and Sonar using their fox fire. All an illusion. Naruto smiled up at them. They lowered their paws and the bats vanished moments later.

While the hunters talked excitedly and tried to find the bats, Aurora appeared on the ground and stood there.

"There! Look!" pointed a hunter.

"That's one of them." The bowman of the group took aim.

Naruto, who was standing right behind him took in a deep breath and... "Boo!"

The hunter, startled by the sudden noise, missed his target and Aurora ran off into the forest. "Who did that?!" the hunter snapped.

"Did what?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Who yelled 'boo' to try and scare me?" he demanded.

"We didn't say anything."

Naruto snickered. Then he darted out between their legs and ran out in front of them.

"Another one! Get it!"

Naruto dodged the arrow sailing by his head and ran up the hill. The hunters were following him. Naruto looked around to see where he was. This was where he had disabled one of their traps. It was a bear trap they had hidden under the dead leaves. Naruto used a kunai to disable it and moved the closed and therefore harmless bear trap off to the side. There it was, right where he left it, nestled between the roots of a tree. He jumped over the roots and went off into the woods.

The hunters following him came to a sudden stop. "I put a bear trap here. It's under the leaves."

"Then the fox must have tripped it."

"No, I didn't hear a sound. Maybe it missed it."

"We can't go through there. We'll walk right into our own trap. Let's go around the other way."

Which was exactly what Naruto wanted them to do.

As they moved to go a different direction, one of the hunters snagged the wire Naruto left and tripped. "Ow!" As he tried to push himself up with his hands, he felt something sticky on his palms. It was all over his front, too. "Ew! What is this stuff?"

One of the hunters knelt down for a better look. "It's syrup. Syrup and honey."

"Gross!"

"There's a whole puddle of it here."

"What the hell?!" The hunter tried to clean himself off. The more he tried, the more it spread. Now leaves were sticking to him. He tried to remove his jacket, which had its pockets filled with more hunting tools he needed. He could either leave it behind or deal with a sticky jacket all night. He chose to leave it behind. "What is that stuff doing here anyway? Someone's cheap idea of a prank?"

"Who knows?"

Naruto appeared on a low branch and watched the hunters from above.

"There it is!" The bowman took aim again. Naruto jumped away and he missed. "Damn. It went this way."

Naruto led them further into the woods. He passed another tree with a scratch in the trunk. Another trap of his was in this area. This one he was particularly proud of. He stopped running and sat on a stone between two trees.

"I see it." The bowman crouched behind a bush and took aim at Naruto.

Above in the tree, Sammi took his own aim and jumped down. His body passed into the hunter's and the man's body went tense. He turned his arms to the side and fired an arrow at the rope to the right of Naruto. Sammi jumped out of the hunter's body and scampered back up the tree.

"Where are you aiming?" asked one of the other hunters.

The rope snapped and suddenly one of the hunters was gone.

"Where's..?"

"Help me!"

The two looked up and saw their comrade hanging from a net above their heads. Naruto's trap was a success. Since Naruto had seen one of the hunters use a net as one of their traps, he decided to use one of his own on them.

"Get me down from here!"

Naruto scampered closer to the hunters just to tease them a little more and then took off again, a little slower this time.

"It's right there!"

"We'll come back for you. Just let us get this one."

"Wait a minute! Hey! Get me down!"

Naruto led the two hunters away from the other and over to the next group who was ready and waiting.

"Fox fire."

The illusion of twenty foxes appeared on the ground and waited for the hunter. They took the bait. The hunters began to attack the illusions. The bowman used all of his arrows on the illusions which Naruto quickly snatched up and broke in two. Now the arrows were useless and he didn't have anymore to fire.

"I'm out," the hunter said to his friend. "I'm out of arrows."

The hunter with the blade stopped swinging. "I don't get it. Why aren't these things dying? There's still so many and I can't find a single body of any of the ones we've hit. We can't be missing them."

"I don't get why they aren't running away."

The illusions faded away and the hunters were left standing in the dark, alone.

"What the hell is this place?" asked the one with the blade.

Treading carefully, the men went back to free their companion.

Naruto was grinning widely. He could tell these men were getting scared. The kitsune weren't doing much but it was enough to frighten the hunters into thinking the forest was haunted. "Psst, guys!" Naruto whispered into the tree. "Where's Ryosuke?"

"He went to the farm. He said he would wait there."

"Ok." Naruto went in the direction of the farm. He wanted to get all the hunters together. That would make chasing them off a lot easier.

When Naruto reached the edge of the forest, he noticed that something wasn't right. Ryosuke wasn't where he was supposed to be. Not only that, but something was moving in the garden. He moved closer and slipped under the fence. The garden was quiet but he could tell something was amiss. He crept closer and closer. "Ryosuke?" he whispered. "You here? Ryosuke?"

There was no answer.

Naruto moved further into the garden. The rows of plants were undisturbed. No one had raided tonight. He tried to track Ryosuke's scent. He kept low to the ground and sniffed the soil. Ryosuke's scent was very faint. He was definitely here tonight. Where was he now?

Something moved. Naruto could hear a faint groaning sound like wood and twine being stretched. His ears flicked. Something was sent into the air. Naruto ducked as an arrow passed between his ears and sank into the side of the stables. Naruto looked up. The hunter was there with a bow of his own. There were two bowmen. This one still had all his arrows.

Naruto started running. The hunter followed after him, reaching for another arrow. Naruto moved quickly, the grass tickling his stomach as he fled across the yard. He went behind the stable and was grabbed by someone. Ryosuke held Naruto back with his paws. "Ryosuke!"

"Shh!" he hushed. "I saw the farmer. He was too close for me to make a move so I hid here. He was going into the woods where I was hiding. I didn't want him to wander in before you guys could finish. He might have gotten you so I lured him back here. Now that he's looking for me, I can't leave."

"I was wondering why you weren't where you were supposed to be." Naruto heard footsteps. "He's coming. Let's go."

Naruto and Ryosuke ran around the other side of the stables just as the hunter made his way around the other side. This was there chance.

"Naruto, I saw him bending down a lot. I think he was setting up traps."

"At night? But they didn't set any here when I was watching them."

"I think it's something he decided to do just now. We have to be careful. Walk carefully."

Naruto heard the hunter behind them. They had to move. They scampered in front of the stables where the ground was more flat and there was little grass. It would be difficult to set a trap here. Ryosuke was getting away from him. Naruto sped up.

Then his body stopped completely and a sharp pain ran up his right leg. "Ahhh!" Naruto looked back. His back foot was caught in a trap. It looked a lot like a bear trap only it was smaller and thinner. The metal teeth sank into his foot staining the ground with blood. "Ahh! Ahh!" Naruto couldn't pull his leg out without cutting more of his flesh and he couldn't pry it open with no thumbs.

The hunter appeared and loaded an arrow into his bow. "Seems like a waste of an arrow but I know better than to try cutting you when you're trapped like that. Tear my face off, you poor frightened, injured animal."

Naruto tried to get up and run, forgetting that his leg was still caught. He pulled but once again his flesh was being stripped off his bones and more pain came, forcing him to stop what he was doing. He couldn't get away.

Then he felt some of the pressure leave his leg. Ryosuke had come running back to help his injured friend. He pressed down on one side of the trap and tried to open the other part with his teeth. If the trap closed again, it would clamp down on Ryosuke's lower jaw, causing him injury. He didn't seem to care. All he cared about was saving Naruto.

The hunter took aim at Ryosuke first.

Naruto pulled, trying to get Ryosuke's attention. Ryosuke saw the arrow pointed at his head but kept trying to free Naruto anyway. He was wiling to risk his life for his friends.

"Ow!"

They looked up at the hunter's cry of pain. The hunter had dropped his bow and was grappling with the horse taking a bite out of his ear.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Damn horse! Let go!" The hunter pulled and twisted which only caused him more pain. He pushed against the horse's nose, trying to get free.

"Jack."

Jack was biting the hunter, trying to protect his friends. The horse was doing everything he could from behind his stable door to help them.

While the hunter was busy dealing with the horse, Ryosuke and Naruto went back to disabling the trap. Naruto pushed while Ryosuke pulled and scratched. The trap opened and Naruto pulled his leg out. Ryosuke released it and it clamped shut on air. They were free.

"How's your leg?"

Naruto tried putting weight on it. It stung. A lot. "I'm ok," he lied. He couldn't stop now. No matter the injury, he had to press on. He had to help them. "Let's keep going. The three in the woods are already scared."

The plan was to lure the fourth into the woods and scare them off all at once.

"If you're up to it, then let's go." Ryosuke led the way while Naruto hobbled behind.

Jack released the hunter and watched helplessly as he picked up his fallen bow and went after the two foxes. "Run, Naruto and Ryosuke!" he cried. "Run!" He could only hope that they would be ok.

* * *

Yay Jack!

Please review! ^-^


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

It was time for a group effort. All the kistune were going to work together of this illusion. When kitsune got together and used their fox fire as one, the illusion was much greater. They could even create an entire reality that humans would perceive as real.

Naruto and Ryosuke led the fourth man to the rest of the hunters. Ryosuke kept looking back to make sure Naruto was still following. His injury was painful and slowing him down, but Naruto insisted he could still keep up and didn't need help.

There were the men. Ryosuke ran forward and ran between their legs. The hunters stopped and tried to track the fox with their eyes. Naruto ran around them while they were all distracted by Ryosuke and hid behind a tree. Naruto attempted to climb it but his injury made it difficult. Ishi and Seki came down to help push him up into the branches.

"I thought you were at the farm," said one of the hunters.

"I was but then two foxes showed up and ran into the woods. One of them's injured. It fell for the trap I set up."

"You idiot! I told you no traps on the farm! The man has horses there."

"Yeah! No kidding!" The hunter showed his bloody ear to the others. "The damn thing was biting my head, too!"

The kitsune began to snicker. Their friend Jack was beyond words. That horse was willing to do anything for his fox friends, limitations or no limitations.

"If that farmer's animals get hurt, do you know what will happen to us? Wild animals only! We are here to hunt down foxes and nothing else."

"I got it, I got it. Don't worry, I only set down one trap. We'll clean everything up when we leave."

"Which happens when we finish the job."

The kitsune got into position in the trees and...

"Fox fire."

Right before their eyes, the trees began to sink into the ground and the hunters were staring at a bare landscape. They huddled together, back to back, looking frightened. Tall buildings and lights took the place of the trees, leaping from the ground like rapidly growing flowers. Colorful lanterns and kites hovered overhead, connecting to the buildings. Everything was colored orange, yellow, pink and purple. It looked just like a festival.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Maybe we ate some bad food or something?"

"So you're seeing this, too? It's not just me?"

"I'm seeing it but... I'm not sure if I'm believing it."

Aurora smirked and sent down two flames of her own doing. The flames took on the shape of two matching women in skimpy outfits and G-cups. The twin girls skipped over to the men and held up bottles of sake, two in each hand, making eight in total.

"Gentlemen, welcome!" they sang cheerfully. "Would you care for a drink?"

The hunters stared at the women open-mouthed. "This can't be real."

"We're dreaming this, right?"

Wanting to get in on the action, Naruto followed Aurora's example and conjured up his own women which looked a lot like his Sexy Jutsu and had them skip over to the men, giggling and squealing with delight.

"Oh, look, girls! Some strong men have come to play with us!"

The men were frozen, his faces beat red, as the blond girl came running over and started touching them from head to belt, which had the men squeaking.

"Th- this isn't real..!" one of them whimpered. "This can't be real. Can it?"

"They feel real to me!" One man had Naruto's women pressed tightly up against his chest and back, their large breasts mushed against his body. Unable to resist, the man pulled them in for an embrace and steam started to shoot from his nose. "This is amazing!"

Another hunter had his eyes shut tight, shaking his head from side to side. "This isn't real, this isn't real! It's a dream! It has to be a dream!"

"If it's a dream then it's a good one! Just enjoy it!" The fourth man wrapped his arms around Aurora's girl and held her tight. "If this is a dream then, damn it, I never want to wake up! This is perfect!"

"I know, right? I never get women to throw themselves at me like this! This is a dream come true!"

Aurora's girls waved the sake bottles in the air, tempting them. "Shall we open up a bottle or two, boys?"

"Yes, we would love to drink with you."

Naruto's girls bounced in place and rubbed against the men. "Oh, please, let's have a drink! It's so yummy! Like you!"

"Ah, screw it!" The men gave in and spent their time attending to the women on their laps.

This was a time when Naruto was perfectly happy not being able to feel what the Sexy Jutsu was feeling. Since it wasn't a jutsu and therefore not clone, or himself, but mere illusions, Naruto didn't feel anything. The men could grope as much as they wanted and he never felt a thing. Which was a very good thing because Naruto's girls were getting a beating. These men were very rough with them which the girls seemed to like just fine. They were even kissing the girls and it was a kind of kissing Naruto had never seen before.

"You ok?" Ishi asked when he saw Naruto grimace.

"Yeah..." Naruto gulped, feeling a little sick watching them. "I'm just so glad it's not me..." Normally when he did this sort of thing, it was him transformed as a girl so he felt everything. It was fun to tease the men and it was always hilarious to see their reactions, however Naruto never went as far as these illusions did. He never kissed a man on the lips and he never let them touch him like that. It was just too disgusting.

"Your girl illusions are great, Naruto," said Superu. "Aurora's the best at it, then again she's the only one willing to try. But you're pretty good at this."

"I practice. I invented my own jutsu. I call it the Sexy jutsu. It's when I transform myself into looking like a girl to surprise men. It's really funny. It's a ninja trick."

"Oh, I see. Do you do this stuff with that skill, too?"

Naruto felt sick again. "Uh... no. It's just gross. I'd rather have a girl touching me than some pervy old man."

"Good thing it's just illusions and not really you, right Naruto?" asked Ishi.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Naruto muttered. "I was just thinking the same thing."

The illusion went on for some time. It certainly seemed like hours had gone by, and the men were still going at it. The girls Aurora had conjured were doing a strip tease for the men while Naruto's illusions sat on their laps and rubbed their chests and faces, cooing in their ears. They tossed money into the air and the men filled their pockets. Naruto was wondering how much longer this was going to go on. He had had enough.

"I found the girl I'm going to marry," declared one of the men loudly. "All of you!"

The girls giggled and cheered and continued to flirt with the men.

The sake bottles kept coming to their lips. No matter how much they drank, the bottles never emptied. The girls never got bored with them and they never complained, no matter how or where the men touched them. What was especially odd was the fact that the blond girls all looked alike. Could all ten of these girls be identical and related? Even their outfits were the same. Everything about this was odd. Where did they all come from all of a sudden? How did this huge city appear in the middle of the forest like this and why were there no other people around? They all felt really good and yet none of them felt drunk even though they had a lot of sake. Something just didn't seem right.

The laughter died down and the lights started to go out. The women were getting fainter and fainter until the men could no longer feel or see them. The sake bottles vanished from their hands and they found themselves back in the middle of the forest sitting in the dirt.

"What the hell just happened?"

The wads of money the women were tossing into the air had turned back into leaves. The lipstick around their faces and necks were gone as well. Now there was no proof that women were here at all.

As a matter of fact, something else was missing.

"Where are our weapons?"

"They were just here a moment ago."

The men started searching but it was no use. While the men were distracted, Ryosuke and Seki had gone down and snatched up all their weapons and carried them off. The arrows were snapped in half and the blades were hauled off to the edge of the woods. The hunters were defenseless now.

"What the hell just happened?!"

"I knew it! I knew something was wrong!"

"So it was all a dream?"

"I think we hallucinated off of something."

"Come on! We didn't eat anything funny."

"Then what do you think happened?"

"How the hell should I know?"

It was time for another trick. "Fox fire."

Leaves began to crunch as someone walked closer to where the men stood, still looking very confused and frightened. The men looked up and saw a woman standing between the trees, watching them.

"Ok, what fresh hell is this?" One of the hunters stood, looking very annoyed, as if a child who wouldn't take no for an answer was about to taunt him once again. "Hey, you. Lady. Are you real or just some trick?"

She didn't move or speak.

"It's a trick. Maybe someone set up a dummy to try and spook us."

The woman began to move. She stepped forward and came closer to the men. The closer she got, the more she began to change. Her hair turned black, her skin became white and her eyes became dark. When she was right in front of them, she threw back her head and screeched so shrilly, it made every man flinch and cover his ears. Her skin began to melt from her face and gathered in a pool around her feet. Her skeletal face grinned menacingly at them before being swallowed up by the puddle of skin and then claw her way back out, becoming more and more frightening as she moved.

"What the hell is that?"

"What's going on here?"

They had no weapons to defend themselves. If this was real, they were in trouble. They had no way to kill it.

The woman melted again and this time when she did, the pool turned blood-red and spread until the men were standing on top of it. The puddle surrounded them. Their reflections started to climb out of the blood and reached for them with crazed expressions and grasped their necks. They were being strangled by their own reflections.

"No!"

They screamed and pushed themselves away, afraid for their lives.

"This is a freaking nightmare!"

"It's not real!" one called to the rest. "None of this is real!"

"Why is this happening?!"

They were scared. These men were really, really frightened.

The pool disappeared and the men were once again left alone in the woods.

"That's it! I'm out of here!" yelled one of the men. "This forest is haunted! Freaking haunted!"

"Get a hold of yourself! We still have a job to do."

"Then we'll do it in the morning when there's light and no freak show!"

They were going to come back. The whole point of this was to make sure these men never came back and never set traps again.

Naruto had an idea. He jumped down from the branch and onto one of the hunters. His paws entered the man's back and he started to slide inside. The man jerked and swayed and grunted.

"What's up with you now?"

"Maybe he's having an hallucination of his own?"

"Yeah, that's the funny thing. Why are we all having group hallucinations? Seems weird to me."

The hunter stopped jerking around and stood, leaning against a tree for balance. "You know what, guys?" he said. "Maybe we should call it quits, you know? Let's get the hell out of here and no matter what I say, let's never go back. Ok?"

The others weren't buying it. "Are you ok? You're acting a little funny."

"No, I'm not. I'm just scared of this freaking place, that's all. Come on, let's get out of here."

This was Naruto's second time using fox possession. So far, it seemed to be going pretty well. However, the other hunters seemed to know something wasn't right with their friend. Naruto tried to persuade them to leave the forest and give up on their hunting trip. When he tried to speak again, no words came out. Something was wrong. He couldn't move. He felt a strange tightness in his own body, as if something were pressing in on him.

"Get out!" a voice kept yelling. "Get out! Get out of me!"

Naruto couldn't keep control. He had to get out before he was crushed to death. It certainly felt like it was about to happen. Naruto pulled himself out of the hunter's body and tried to get away.

It was too late. He was too slow. Someone grabbed him by his tail and held him upside-down.

"It's a fox!"

"But we don't have our weapons anymore."

Naruto watched them carefully, hoping they would just give up and let him go.

"Not a problem." The hunter that had a hold of his tail swung the hand that held him and threw Naruto into the side of the tree. Naruto's body was smashed into the trunk, letting out a yelp of pain. "We'll bash the damn thing's head in." He threw Naruto into the tree again. He beat him against the tree as if he were a dusty rag.

"Stop it!" Naruto screamed.

The beating stopped.

Still hanging from his tail, Naruto panted in relief. The hunter lifted Naruto up to his face and studied him. "Did this fox just... talk?"

Naruto kept his mouth shut.

"You're losing it. It couldn't've. Right? I mean, foxes don't talk."

"This one did."

"No way."

The hunter pulled back to throw Naruto into the tree again. This time Naruto held out his paws to absorb the blow and turned his head around to look him in the eye. "I said for you to stop that!"

Screaming, the hunter dropped him on the ground. "It did talk!"

Naruto didn't care if they knew. He didn't care if these hunters got the curse. Maybe it would make them a little more sympathetic to the kitsune. Maybe it would do them a world of good.

"It's a demon fox!" The hunter tried to stomp on him. Naruto's legs moved quickly but his body couldn't keep up. He was stomped into the ground. They were going to kick him to death.

"Naruto!" The other foxes came to his rescue. Aurora was first, leaping in front of Naruto to take the next hit for him. The very fox who didn't trust him and swore she could never accept him was now shielding him with her own body. Also stepping between him and the hunter was Superu and Seki. Ishi landed in front of the other hunters who looked ready to join in on the kicking. Sonar was with him. Lunabell, Sammi and Eago watched from the trees, their eyes gleaming dangerously at the hunters.

The hunters started to back away. "What the hell is this?"

"These foxes aren't normal."

"We are not mere foxes," said a voice. "We are kitsune. And you have invaded our home. Humans left us this forest and the mountain. This is our territory. Humans do not venture here. This is our land."

The hunters turned around. Ryosuke was walking slowly toward them from the trees, his green eyes aglow.

"This forest is home to many kitsune. Many call this land our home. We will protect each other. Do not cross a kitsune's path. Do not harm a kitsune or a friend of a kitsune."

As Ryosuke walked, his body started to change. He was growing bigger and bigger. He was the size of Akamaru now and still growing.

"You cannot hunt us down like common animals. You cannot kill a kitsune so easily."

The hunters coward as Ryosuke grew to the size of a bear and his fur started to turn to flame.

"Leave us in peace unless you want a kitsune's grudge to be on your heads. Leave this land and never return. If you stay, you will pay for hurting our friend. You will be punished for your actions. Leave now."

The hunters were shaking. Ryosuke was huge! He looked like a demonic fox. His eyes were glowing and his fur was on fire. Even his voice had changed. It sounded deeper and louder. As terrifying as he was, he was also magnificent. He looked like a god. When he spoke, he sounded like a king of great power and pride. One that was very loving and one that was very vengeful. One that could protect and one that could fight.

The leader of the kitsune.

"Leave now," he ordered again. He bent his spine so he could fit among the trees which he had now grown to the size of. "Get out of our home."

The hunters were speechless, quaking where they stood. They huddled together for protection like frightened kittens. "We're sorry," one of them whispered. "We... we didn't know..."

Fire erupted from Ryosuke's mouth and his tail whipped the sky. "Get out!" he bellowed. "GET OUT!"

Screaming in terror, the hunters fled the forest, running as fast as they could. They begged for mercy and forgiveness. They kept running even long after Ryosuke had ended his illusion cloak and returned to normal size.

"We did it!" a cheer went out among the kitsune and they all began to celebrate. "They're gone! We won!" They ran in circles and barked happily and danced in place.

Naruto struggled up into a sitting position.

"Naruto..!" Ryosuke came rushing over and nudged his face with his muzzle. "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Naruto was bleeding all over the grass and his left arm was at a strange angle. His back was aching and his head was spinning.

"He's hurt!" Lunabell cried. "He's hurt bad!"

"What does he need? We'll bring it!"

"I'm fine," Naruto insisted. He had sustained greater injuries in ninja battles so in comparison this was nothing. "I heal fast. I'll be ok."

The kitsune weren't going to take no for an answer. They helped Naruto to the falls and had him drink from the pool of clear water. They licked his wounds clean and tried to gather food for him to eat. Ishi dug up some of the food they had buried for later and brought it to the water for Naruto to snack on. Since there was no stopping them, Naruto shared the food with them and drank the water.

As for Naruto's arm, the foxes weren't sure what to do. They didn't have anything to brace it with and their medicine wasn't as good as human's. Naruto had the bright idea to bend it back into place and then hope for the best.

Lunabell and Ishi gripped Naruto's arm in their teeth. "Ready?" They pulled in opposite directions until there was a snap.

"Oww!" Naruto howled.

"Sorry!" Lunabell dropped his arm. "Are you ok?"

"It's looking better," commented Ishi.

Naruto's arm was straight again but it was impossible to put any weight on it without pain. At least he had three other limbs he could walk on. "Thanks, guys. That's much better."

"Maybe we could try binding it like humans do."

Ryosuke went into the forest and returned with one of the ropes from the trap Naruto had set for the hunters. "We can use this to bind it."

Sammi ripped two twigs off a tree and brought them over to Naruto. "We can use these, too, right?"

"Yup. Put them on either side of my arm and tie them together with that rope." Naruto showed them what to do and the kitsune tried their best. They used their teeth to pull the rope tight around the twigs and worked together as a team to try tying it up. It wasn't easy. Their knot was very weak but Naruto didn't complain. He knew this was the best they could do without hands. "Thanks, guys."

"Feeling any better?" asked Lunabell.

"I'll be fine."

The kitsune didn't leave his side for the rest of the night. They remained with him, asking him every few minutes how he was feeling. Only Sonar left to find food that night. He returned with so little but every bit of it he offered to Naruto first. Ryosuke told Naruto that this was how they did things. The injured and young were fed first as well as any females who were expecting pups. Naruto claimed he was full from the food they gave him earlier and told them to eat instead.

Lunabell kept to his side all night, watching his wounded arm and paw as if staring would help them heal faster. Seki and Ishi stayed closest to Naruto, keeping him warm with their fur. Ryosuke paced the area, keeping watch over Naruto and the rest of the party. Every now and then he would leave and come back carrying something in his mouth. Sometimes it was a dead mouse, sometimes a twig for Naruto to gnaw on, which he said would help. Once he returned with the discarded bag Naruto had left in the woods the other night when he brought them food. He had stuffed it with leaves and told Naruto to lay on it so he would be more comfortable. He checked Naruto's wounds and nuzzled him. When he at last came to a stop, he rested beside Naruto and talked with him for a while. He asked what Naruto liked to eat best and what his friends were like and where his village was. Naruto answered all his questions and told him and the kitsune about his home. They all listened with interest.

Naruto could completely understand why they wouldn't want to leave their home, even if it meant being killed. Even if he was threatened, Naruto wouldn't abandon the Leaf Village. He would stand and fight for it. He understood them and they understood him.

Home was home. Nothing would change that. It would be next to impossible to make Naruto budge when it came to leaving the Leaf Village. Anything to keep it safe.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

When dawn arrived, Naruto found himself alone in the woods on top of a leaf-stuffed bag and two twigs wrapped around his arm. He sat up slowly and looked around. The kitsune were all gone but they had left a dead lizard and a mouse head for him. He wouldn't be eating those any time soon. His body was stiff and sore. His foot had healed nicely and he could put weight on it. His arm was another story. It was still in a lot of pain and he couldn't use it. Now that he wasn't a fox, it wasn't very important to him. He didn't have to walk on it so it wasn't going to slow him down.

Naruto stood up and collected the bag, dumping the leaves on the ground. "I must have nodded off at some point during the night." The kitsune must have left when the sun came up to climb back up the mountain to safety. Sometimes human children wandered into the woods during the day and so did adults from time to time. If they remained here with him, it would be dangerous. Plus, this was the time of day when they slept. Foxes weren't likely to sleep out in the open like this and expose themselves to enemies. Naruto understood their reasons and didn't feel abandoned. After all, they stayed with him all night long and took very good care of him. "Maybe they figured that since I would turn back into a human, I could get help. Maybe someone would find me or something."

He shrugged and carried the bag back to the palace, resting his injured arm on the strap as a makeshift sling. He squinted in the sunlight, coming out of the shaded woods. He could smell breakfast cooking in the homes of the townspeople. He climbed up the hill and up to the palace gate. That's when he stopped. He could see the hunters loading up their carriage in a hurry. The prince was running down the steps of his palace, calling out to them.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"We're out of here!" said one of the hunters, tossing a large sack into the back of the carriage.

"I told you to wait and talk about this," said Akio. "Don't be so hasty."

"We're not staying no matter how much you pay us!"

"They're just foxes and you're running away with your tail between your legs?"

"Those weren't foxes!"

Another hunter came around the other side of the carriage carrying his bow and the trap that caught Naruto's foot on the farm. "Those were kitsune! They're like super foxes!"

"I heard they're essentially spirits. They can't be killed by normal means. There's no way we're going back in there. Even if you gave us your entire fortune and then some. We're not having those things after us the rest of our lives."

Akio looked very upset. "I paid you to do a job."

"Then do it yourself!" The hunter tossed a bag at the prince's chest. "Keep your money! We're done!"

"You said you could handle this job."

"That was before we knew they were kitsune. They're not wild animals. They have the intellect of a human, the body and instinct of a fox and power that is beyond either one. Those things are magical. Next time, get your facts straight before sending us in to kill a bunch of supernaturals. We hunt wild animals, not spirits."

"And besides," said another hunter. "You never mentioned that this was their land and their home. We're invading their land. It's like you're paying us to break into someone's house and murder them. That ain't right!"

"Yeah! Breaking and entering... Really? We're not doing that."

"Totally. We're taking our gear, our traps, our weapons and our services and getting the hell out of here." They slammed the back door shut and finished hooking their single brown horse up to the front.

Akio stood in front of the carriage. "You can't just leave."

"We can and we are. You have your money. You can't keep us here."

"You get back in that mountain and kill those foxes! I have a town to keep safe."

"Then we suggest you keep to your land. As long as no one goes up into that mountain the kitsune won't bother you. You keep to your own and they'll keep to theirs."

"It's not going to work like that. Just kill them already. I want them all wiped out so there won't be any more problems."

"You keep bothering them and there will be." The hunter gave the horse a nudge. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Akio stepped out of the way as the horse came towards him. "Get back here!" he called after them.

"No way in hell! We're never coming back here!" yelled the hunter. "I told you, we don't do supernatural." He pushed the carriage forward and the horse went through the front gate, down the hill and far, far away.

Akio stood in the middle of the yard staring after them. With a frustrated sigh, he turned and went back into his palace.

Naruto, who had been watching the whole thing from the gate, smirked and walked onto the property with his head held high as if he owned the place. He didn't even notice the pain in his arm until he tried to open the front door.

* * *

"How in the hell did you manage this? And don't tell me you slept on it wrong." Sakura went to work healing Naruto's injured arm. "You're covered in dirt, too. What the hell happened to you?"

Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "Heheheh... I went out looking for the assassin last night and kind of messed myself up."

"I'll say."

Naruto was feeling pretty good about himself. So good that he didn't care what Sakura had to say. Those hunters were gone and they were never coming back. He had done it. He managed to protect his kitsune friends and kept them all safe. Everything was going to be ok. Now he just had to focus on other things, like his promise to them. He still had to find the two-tailed fox, Reevo.

However, he had reached a dead end with that. His two most likely suspects were tossed out because not all of the pieces matched up. If they weren't foxes at night then it couldn't have been them. Sleeping during the day was another thing. The prince didn't fit that piece of the puzzle or the one about being a fox at night. The old man said he slept during the day so Naruto thought for sure it was him. However, if he was the one who killed Seki's brother, then it would have taken place at night and he could have only done it if he was human. Seki himself said it was a human that did it. He was running out of ideas fast.

"There. You should be all set."

Naruto flexed his arm. It was much better. No pain at all. "Thanks, Sakura."

"So you mind telling me how this happened to you exactly?"

"I told you, I was looking for the assassin guy and this happened."

"Yeah, but how?"

"I fell, ok?"

"It looks worse than a simple fall."

"Look, it's embarrassing, ok? I've got to go take a bath now and get some of this dirt off."

During his bath, Naruto tried to think about what else he could do to track down the two-tailed fox. Maybe there were more clues in the town. He had to go down there anyway to clean up the traps he left in the woods. He didn't leave very many and they were all marked so they would be easy to find.

After his bath, Naruto ditched the bag back in his room and got ready to go back into the forest. He counted his weapons and supplies, making sure nothing was amiss. Then he gathered up what he would need to clean up those traps and left the room. On his way down the hall, Naruto started thinking. He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice Sai walking towards him from the other end of the hall until they almost ran into each other.

"Are you alright, Naruto?"

"Uh, yeah. Just thinking."

"Alright." Sai started to walk away.

"Hey, Sai?"

He stopped. "Yeah?"

"Something's bothering me. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Naruto faced Sai. "If the prince has never left this palace, if he's never been in town or in the woods, how did he know where the foxes were living? How did he know where they were?"

Sai thought about it. "Well, there are two possibilities for that which come to mind right away. First, it could be common knowledge. Wild animals tend to live in those areas. Someone also could have told him. The other possibility is that he has left the palace and does know where they are. After all, he lied to us about the secret passages in the palace. Maybe he's lying about never leaving this place, too."

"Yeah. But the servants all said that he doesn't leave. And since they're all over the place, someone would have seen him."

"True," said Sai. "Unless he uses one of those passages."

Naruto blinked. "And none of the servants know where they are. They wouldn't know, would they?"

Sai nodded, smiling.

Naruto left the palace and went into town thinking about what he had just learned. Akio could have been told where the kitsune were or he already knew where they were after seeing them firsthand. His parents were the ones who made a deal with the kitsune so it was very possible that he knew where they were because of that. Even so, Naruto still had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He trudged through the forest, rounding up every trap he had set the day before. He used a few clones to make the job go by faster. Once everything was gathered up, Naruto started to walk back but not before taking a little detour. He wandered deeper into the forest until he arrived at the waterfall and turned left. He stopped in front of the grave he had dug and took something out of his bag and left it on top of the mound of dirt as an offering. The strawberry wasn't much, but it was something. He would have left flowers but he figured he would appreciate this a lot better. He would have brought more food and left it for the kitsune to find later that evening, but he thought other animals would reach it before they could unless he buried it they way they taught him. He would have to wait until lunch to do that if he still had the desire. He snagged that strawberry from the fruit cup Sakura had left on the table when she was healing him. It was all he could sneak away.

When Naruto left the forest and stepped into town, the first thing that reached his ears were complaints. Curious, he went into town and found the old man arguing with a few of the women, their children hiding behind their legs close to tears.

"Get a hold of your brats, lady! I'm not going to tell you again!"

"You are just rude, cruel and all around unlikable!"

Naruto stood among the small crowd of adults watching the women and old man exchange comments in the middle of the street.

"That damn ball of theirs keep banging against the side of my house! It's annoying and loud! But they think it's funny, don't they? Teach your children some manners!"

"How dare you!" scolded one of the women. "We've taught our children more manners than you have in your whole body!"

"And they apologized for it, didn't they? But no, you had to come out and scream at them. You are so mean!"

"They kept it up! And don't buy into their weak apology. I'm not buying it for a second. You have your kids stop bothering the neighbors and be good children by keeping inside the house and being quiet!"

One of the mothers took her children by the hand and led them away from the old man, comforting them with gentle words. The other mother refused to budge and pointed at the old man. "All you ever do is complain. Nothing pleases you. It's always someone else. All these years, you haven't said one nice thing to anyone. You're just a bitter old man."

"I wouldn't be bitter if people would do their damn jobs around here!" The old man banged his cane against the side of his house. "What has that brat of a prince done about my house being broken into? Huh? Nothing! So now just anybody can come waltzing in and take things off people's walls?!"

"Only one thing was taken and it's no wonder it was," said the woman. "If you ask me, the person who did it did you a favor. You know pelts are illegal in this town. The king and queen made it so a while ago along with the hunting laws. What do you suppose would happen if the family found out that you made a fresh fox pelt in your home after the law was made?"

"No one tells me what to do! What I can and can't have in my own house! Besides, that damn fox was making a racket outside my house in the middle of the night. I had to take care of it. Who knows what things it could be carrying? I don't want to get bitten!"

"Ha! Shows what you know. If you leave it alone, it will leave you alone."

"Don't give me any of that!" yelled the old man. "I know it was your brats that did it! You're just protecting them! Trying to cover it up!"

"The very nerve!" the woman yelled. "How dare you accuse me or my children without any proof!"

"The woman's right," called a man from the sidelines. "You had a fox skinned after the law was put in place and then you hang it on the wall for all to see. You are just asking for trouble, aren't you?"

"That's right. You're so cruel. The fox was running and you went and killed it. What a wicked old man you are! Show some mercy. It was running scared and you chased it down. What do you think the king and queen would have done if they knew?"

"We'll they're dead, aren't they?" said the old man. "I guess we'll never know. And that brat of a prince is so loving of animals he cares more about them than the well-being of his people. We're ruled by weaklings."

"The prince watches out for his people. He's taken good care of us all."

"The hell he is! If he were, then he would have done something about the brat who stole that pelt from my wall!"

"I thought you hated that thing, anyway. Why would you keep it? You hate animals. All of them."

The old man growled. "The animal items I have are from my family long passed. My father loved his wood carvings. Sure, I hate animals, but does that mean I'll discard his work now that he's dead? Now who's cruel?"

"And I suppose that pelt is your little contribution?" asked the woman in a snide tone.

"None of your business!" The old man pointed his cane at the two boys hiding behind her. "Stop hiding them and make them confess. I know they did it!"

"If you so much as touch my children..!"

"They deserve a beating for stealing from an elder! Bring them forward now or are we going to have a problem?"

"They didn't do it!" Naruto pushed through the crowd and stood in front of the old man. "I did! I went into your house the other day and took that pelt off your wall."

The old man whacked Naruto in the shin with his cane. "I should have known it was you. I knew you were trouble when you first came here. Why would you break into my home and steal from me?"

"Because that fox was running away and you chased him down and killed him! There were two other foxes there that night. His younger brothers! They were looking for food and ran off when you came outside. He was just protecting his siblings! He didn't deserve to die like that!" Naruto spat. "And if you have laws against killing foxes, why the hell would you go out and do it anyway? You're the one who's looking for trouble!"

"How do you know what the fox was doing? What it was thinking? They're just dumb animals," said the old man, taking another swing at Naruto's legs. "That fox was making trouble. I only did what the people of this town are too scared to do themselves!"

"Ok! Fine!" Naruto grabbed the man's cane to prevent him from hitting him again. "When you're hungry and come to my village asking for food because you can't stand it anymore, I'll kill you and mount your corpse on the wall! How about that?!"

"Humans and foxes are two different things! It's a damn animal, for crying out loud!"

"So that makes it ok?"

The old man pulled his cane free and stood on it shakily. "Don't preach to me, boy! The people of this town eat meat all the time and I'm sure you do the same thing. Suddenly it's cruel? How do you think you get the meat you're eating, huh? You have to kill it!"

"There's a difference between getting meat for the table and cruelty," said the mother from behind Naruto. "What you did was wrong and you know it."

"You know what? Fine!" The old man started to walk back into his house. "Be that way! You know what? You did do me a favor. I didn't like that pelt anyway. I was going to hang it outside my house to warn the other foxes not to come around here anymore, but if I had done that then the prince would have known what I did and I would have been in a lot of trouble. So yeah, you're right." He opened the door to his house and before slamming it shut, he yelled back, "You kid ninja need to finish up and get the hell out! I'm sick of looking at you and you're just making this whole town a lot worse!"

Naruto rubbed his shin. "Ow..."

The woman stepped closer to Naruto. "Are you alright, dear?"

"I'm alright."

The woman smiled at him. "Ah... You're a good boy. I can tell." Then she tapped him on the head. "Still, you shouldn't have broken into his home to steal. Be a better ninja than that."

"The window was open."

The woman laughed. "I see, I see."

The crowd began to disperse. Naruto looked back at the woman. "He's just a mean old guy, isn't he? Every time I see him, he's doing something mean."

"All the time. I think he's just mean because bad things have happened to him in life. His wife died a few years ago and he hasn't found anyone else so now he's all alone. I suppose he wants people to be just as miserable as he is."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Ah." Then he asked, "I noticed that you guys all seem to support those laws the royal family set into place and you guys seem to like animals, too. You even told the old man that he was wrong to chase down the fox and kill it. But if that's the case, then why would you all complain to the prince about the foxes coming into town at night?"

"Hm?" The woman cocked her head. "What are you talking about?"

"The prince said that he was getting too many complaints from the people in town about the foxes. Not just the old man. Everyone's been complaining."

The woman shook her head. "I don't know anything about that. I never said a word to the prince on the matter. The foxes only go through the trash and pick out things we don't want anyway. It's all wasted food so they can have it. They don't bother me. I haven't heard about anyone complaining."

"No one?"

A passerby overhearing them stopped and commented, "I know I haven't said anything to the prince and I don't know anyone who has."

"The foxes aren't a bother to me," said a man.

"Agreed. They're outside and never try to come into our homes. I hardly notice them. Most of us are in bed at that time. I know I am."

"Oh, I know. They hardly make a sound. If they did, I could understand if someone were to complain. But they're so quiet I hardly notice them."

"Wait a minute," said Naruto, looking around at the townspeople. "So none of you have complained to the prince about the foxes? No one wants them stopped or gotten rid of?"

"Goodness, no."

"Where would you get an idea like that?"

"Yeah, the foxes aren't violent at all. Very docile."

"They eat the food that goes to waste. No problems for me."

Naruto lowered his head, soaking it all in. They never complained. They didn't know what he was talking about, even though the prince said everyone in town has been complaining.

He lied.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

Why would he lie? What did he have to gain from it? Did he secretly hate animals? Or was it just foxes he disliked?

Naruto mulled over these thoughts as he stared out the window to the front yard where the guards stood like statues at the gate. None of this made any sense. He checked around town, asking everyone he came across if any of them had complained to the prince about the foxes. No one, not even the farmer surprisingly, said one word to the prince about the foxes. The prince said that the people in town were complaining but the truth of the matter was that none of them had said a single word to him about it. The prince lied. He hired the hunters to kill the kitsune himself and used the people in town as an excuse. He was using them as a cover story.

But why? What did the prince have against the foxes?

Naruto walked down the hall, trying to figure this out. He passed by a couple of maids cleaning the collection of artwork through the hall. They dusted the armor and the paintings and polished the glass vases and statues. Naruto watched them work while he thought. He stepped aside so a maid could polish a statue Naruto had never seen before. When the maid caught him looking she smiled and said, "A new addition to the prince's collection. Said the hunters gave it to him as a gift. How nice of them."

Naruto frowned. The hunters didn't seem like the type to give a gift to the prince, much less something so expensive looking. Naruto took a closer look at the object the maid was setting down on the table. It was a ceramic statue of a man posed in a kneeling position, his head raised up as if he could see Naruto staring at him. The man was faceless and the clothes were lacking details. Naruto could only tell it was a man based on the shape of the body.

"Does he get gifts a lot from people?" he asked the maid.

"My, yes. The lord..." The maid hesitated, thinking about the other night. "Well, anyway... He used to bring gifts to the prince all the time. Whenever he visited. He would get so many things. He was given that bookend on one visit." The maid pointed to a metal bookend sitting on a shelf all by itself in the shape of a bear.

"So it's normal for him to get a lot of things like this? It's not strange?"

"Heavens, no."

Naruto frowned. "Uh, maid lady? The prince seemed really upset when the hunters left without killing any foxes. Why is that? I thought the prince, as an animals lover, would be really happy about that."

"Oh..." the maid sighed. "He had to work up the nerve to ask them to come to the town to do that job. When they left like that, I think the prince felt like they were toying with his emotions. And besides, he asked them to do a job and they just left like that. I'm sure he's also upset because the people in town may think that he cannot do his job properly if the people he employs get up and leave. His job is very difficult."

"No, that's not it..." Naruto muttered more to himself than to her. The prince seemed more upset that the hunters didn't kill anything than simply leaving without doing their job. It seemed like he wanted the foxes dead.

Naruto walked down the hall and stopped in front of the wall of paintings, showing each generation of royalty. There was the prince, on the very end. Naruto tilted his head to the side, studying the portrait. It was a very good painting. It looked just like the prince. Although, there were a couple of slight differences. For instance, this painting depicted the prince looking frightened more than gentle and calm. He looked as if someone had sneaked up on him with his back turned. He didn't look like someone Naruto could hate so easily. He looked scared. And sad. The portrait looked sad.

Naruto tilted his head a little more. He moved his feet from side to side, turning his body so he saw the painting from different angles. It almost looked like the eyes were following him. "Well, that is common with paintings, isn't it?" He turned his head. He stepped closer. He poked the painting with his finger. It felt like a normal canvas. Somehow, it just seemed out of place to him. All the other paintings were of people looking either happy or stoic. He looked sad and scared. It was just different.

"He is different." According to the lord who hired the assassins, the prince had changed. All he kept repeated was how Akio was different from a few years ago. "But different how?" Naruto had to find out. He decided to go down to the dungeon and ask them himself. It wasn't like they were going anywhere.

Leaving the portrait behind, Naruto went off in search of the dungeon. It must have been under the palace. Where else would it be? As long as he kept going down, he was sure to find it. If worst came to worst, he would ask someone to take him there using the excuse that he had to interrogate them again.

On his way he passed by an open door. He heard Sakura giggling inside. Once again, curiosity overtook him and he peeked inside. It was a ballroom on the first floor and Sakura was dancing with the prince to no music. It looked like she was having a great time.

"You have some elegant moves, Sakura." Akio gave her a turn, spinning her. "Such natural grace."

"I used to practice when I was little. I had fantasies of dancing with someone I really liked. I had a huge crush on him. All the girls did."

"Does he compare to a prince? All girls dream about dancing with a prince."

"Mm." Sakura spun into his arms. "He seemed like a prince to me. He's certainly handsome enough."

"Well..." Akio danced with Sakura, taking her to the center of the dance floor where they rotated in a circle. "I'm sure if he were to see you now, he would easily mistake you for a princess. You certainly dance like one."

Sakura scoffed. "I'm not a princess."

"You could be."

Sakura almost stopped dancing and looked into his eyes. She looked surprised.

Akio smiled at her. "Your beauty, your grace... It wouldn't be difficult. And as long as you're here..." Akio spun Sakura and bent her over backwards, supporting her on his hand. "I'll treat you as the lovely princess that you are. I'll treat you in every way you should be treated, my dear Sakura."

Sakura was speechless. Naruto was right. He was flirting with her.

Naruto turned away and went off in search of the dungeon. He couldn't watch this anymore. "What a player. A pretentious little... Who the hell talks like that? Who does he think he is? I can't believe Sakura would fall for those cheap line."

* * *

As far as dungeons went, this one was pretty decent. It seemed to double as a wine cellar and a storage area. Further away from the door, Naruto spotted bars which could only belong to someone's cage. The further he entered, the cooler it got. The prisoners weren't left in total darkness. Lamps were lit on either side of the prison, bathing the men within in orange light and shadow. Naruto stood in front of the bars and stared at them until they acknowledged his presence.

"What do you want?" asked the assassin Naruto had fought that evening. His ear was still bandaged and his face was still covered in scratches.

Naruto bent down to be at eye level with the lord sitting on the ground. "I came to ask you something about the prince."

The lord hugged his knees closer to his chest.

"You said that the prince had changed. What did you mean by that? In what way has he changed?"

The lord looked up. "No one will listen. Why should you be any different?"

"Because I am different." Naruto put his hands on the bars, peering inside. "I'm here asking you when no one told me to do so. I know there's something wrong with the prince. I need to know what. Some strange things have been happening. Things that don't add up."

"Like what?"

"There were five of you, but we only caught you four. When my friends said that we had to stay and look for the one we missed the prince said we didn't have to. If there was an assassin trying to kill him running loose in town, wouldn't he want him found and stopped? He didn't seem that concerned. Not even that he might come here to set you guys free. That's strange to me. Do you know where he is?"

"No," said one of the assassins. "He went ahead to the prince's room but he never returned. When I saw the prince come down those steps unharmed, it got me thinking. Where did he go? They must have crossed paths. He was going straight there."

"We haven't seen him since that night," said the assassin Naruto knew.

"But why would you guys want to assassinate him? What has the prince done to you?"

The lord lifted his head. "It started a little while ago. I noticed a change in him. It was during a meeting. I brought him a gift but he didn't like it. It was a box of chilli peppers from my home. We grow lots of them and sometimes I give them to the prince as a gift. He normally likes them. This time, he wouldn't go near them and said they made his nose hurt. Also, I brought my dog on one visit and she wouldn't stop growling at the prince. Normally she loves the prince and he loves to pet her. He wouldn't go near her for some reason. At first I thought it was because she was growling, but I knew it was more than that. She never growls. She knew something was wrong. Aside from that, the prince wouldn't do proper business with us. He seemed like he wanted to sabotage us. He would lie and when he traded food with us, by the time we reached home and opened the boxes, we found that they were full of dirt or had stones in them. Once we checked the crates of food he was trading and saw the food was inside. When we got back, the crate was empty. It was as if they vanished. He was tricking us and that was so unlike the prince. I knew something was wrong."

"What did you think was going on?" Naruto asked him.

"I was certain that the prince was an imposter. I had a feeling that he wasn't even human. I thought he was a monster. So I hired these men to do away with the fake prince so he wouldn't ruin things for anyone else. Then your buddies stopped us."

"If you think he's a fake prince, then where do you think the real prince is?"

"I don't know," the lord hung his head. "My fear is that he's been murdered or hidden away somewhere. I have no proof and when I tried to explain my reasoning, no one would believe me. Some even thought I was crazy. I tried telling the staff here but they all swore that nothing was amiss and that the prince was the same as ever."

"I see." Naruto nodded his head. "Don't worry. I believe you. I've had a feeling that the prince was lying about something."

The lord crawled the short distance to the bars and touched Naruto's hand with his. "Then you can put a stop to him." The lord looked so desperate. "Please, please, do something! I'm so glad you understand. Please get rid of this imposter. He'll lead everyone to ruin at this rate. I know the prince. We're good friends. This man... he's not the prince. I refuse to believe it."

Naruto nodded to the lord. "You got it. I promise, I'll get rid of him and find the real prince."

* * *

As Naruto ran up the stairs to the next floor, he couldn't help but wonder how any of this matched up. He knew there was something going on with the prince. He never liked him to begin with. He seemed rather two-faced in his opinion. How could he go from so sweet to lying and being vindictive? He thought for sure the prince was the two-tailed fox but the fact that he was wake during the day and wasn't a fox at night made Naruto second guess himself. Even when he transformed into a dog, Akio didn't freak out in the way Naruto thought he would. He didn't respond with hatred or fear. He tried to engage the dog. If he was a fox, he would have never done that.

The only explanation for the prince acting two different ways was the possibility that the two-tailed fox was possessing the prince and forced him to do all these things. After all, how could a fox know what the prince needed to do and how to get it done? Even Jack said that and it made a lot of sense. Even the staff didn't see anything wrong with how the prince was acting. The only explanation was that he was under fox possession and that the fox was someone in the palace. Either that, or he was someone very close by.

"Man, foxes are tricky."

Naruto looked out the window. He had spent too much time talking with the men in the dungeon. It was already sunset. He had to hurry and get out of here before someone saw him. He went straight to his room and gathered his things. The bag he was using to sneak food was still dirty and empty. He couldn't fill it with food now. He was in too big of a hurry. All the traps he had set up were dismantled and put away. When he changed his ninja tools would be useless. All he could do at this point was open his window and wait for the transformation to take place. He would have to figure something out during that time. He had to think of a plan. He had so much information to sort out it was almost overwhelming.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto froze. Slowly he looked up and saw Neji in his doorway. "Uh... nothing. I was just..."

"You were just..?"

Naruto glanced out the open window. Sunset was now. He had no time to deal with Neji. He prayed that Neji would hurry up with whatever he had to say and leave.

"I hear you broke your arm."

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine now. See? Sakura healed me."

Neji looked at the floor where Naruto's gear was gathered. "So... what are you doing now? I didn't see you at dinner."

"I was just busy." Naruto checked the position of the sun again. "Well, it's getting late. I should really get some rest. That way you won't have to get me up in the morning."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

Naruto's heart started pounding. "Huh?"

"I know you've been leaving the palace at night. You can't deny that from someone with the Byakugan."

Naruto gulped. "I... I was looking for the assassin."

"This has been going on for a while. Long before the assassins showed up."

"I..."

"You return tired and filthy."

"I... I was out training. Because I couldn't sleep."

"You're a bad liar." Neji wasn't so easily fooled. He had known this for a while. Now he had chosen to confront Naruto. "Tell me the truth. Where have you been going at night?"

"Nowhere. Just outside. To train."

"Try again. I know that you haven't been training. You've been doing something else."

Naruto looked out the window again. The sky was a deep purple color. He only had a few seconds left before he changed into a fox. If he changed in front of Neji, then he would be cursed as well, and he may not become a fox like Naruto. He might turn into something else. He couldn't let that happen. His secret had to be kept safe.

"Where have you been going?" Neji repeated. "What have you been doing?"

"It's not important." Naruto's eyes darted back and forth from the window. The sun was just hanging on the horizon.

"When we were battling those assassin, you were nowhere to be found. What if they were stronger than that? We needed you there. You ran off at a bad time. Things could have been much worse. You return exhausted and dirty, sometimes injured. I want to know what you've been doing and I'm not leaving until you tell me."

Neji wasn't going anywhere. This wasn't good. Naruto could change at any second. "I'm not telling you until you leave."

"I'm not falling for that. You'll just climb out the window and if I do what you say, you could just stand a clone in front of me while you go running off." Neji folded his arms. "I'm staying put."

"It's not a good time, Neji!"

"Then you better talk fast." He wasn't budging.

Naruto's eyes darted to the widow again. He was running out of time. His heart was pounding so fast. This was flight-or-fight, no doubt about it. He would either have to make a run for it and hope Neji didn't catch him, or battle Neji which maybe not work out so well. Not because he thought he couldn't beat him but because it would take too long and Neji might see him change during that time.

"What are you looking at?" Neji asked, seeing Naruto's eyes wander out the window again.

"Nothing."

"Are you hiding something over there? What's so important?"

An idea popped into Naruto's head. This could be his ticket out of here. "There's nothing in the bag over by the window."

"What?"

"It's nothing. It's empty. There's no need to look," Naruto said quickly.

Neji looked behind Naruto at the bag on the floor. He looked back at Naruto, narrowing his eyes. "What's in there?"

"Nothing. I said so."

Neji frowned and walked forward. Naruto stepped in front of him, insisting he stop. Neji shoved him to one side and bent down.

"Neji, don't."

Neji opened the bag and looked inside. It was empty.

"Sorry, Neji."

As Neji started to turn around, Naruto bashed him over the head with the candlestick holder he snatched off the table. Neji fell to the floor out cold while Naruto stood over him with the bent candlestick.

"I said sorry."

The candlestick dropped to the floor as Naruto's body shrunk and became furry. That was too close.

Naruto had to think fast. He couldn't just leave Neji here like this, could he? What was wrong with leaving him in the middle of the floor? They were in a bedroom after all. Maybe he should try hiding him just in case someone came along. What if Neji woke up and tried to look for him?

"Maybe I should hide him." Naruto grabbed onto Neji's collar with his mouth and tried to pull him to the closet. Neji's body only moved a few inches. "Damn, you're heavy!" Neji was so much bigger than him and Naruto could only move him with his teeth. He gave up after dragging Neji no more than a few feet. This wasn't going to work. Trying something else, Naruto grabbed the corner of the blanket from the bed and draped it over Neji so his whole body was covered. This way, if anyone came around, Neji was hidden from sight. The last thing he needed was for a maid to come along and clean the room only to find Neji on the floor. That would be problematic. "Good enough."

From there, Naruto climbed out the open window and scampered off. He crossed the yard and scaled the stone wall which separated the palace from the woods. If only Neji hadn't arrived when he did. Naruto was planning his next move and Neji distracted him. He also nearly discovered Naruto's secret. Neji would be fine there on the floor. He just had to get away before he was seen by any of his friends. Now that he was free to do as he pleased away from prying eyes, Naruto decided to visit the kitsune as he did every night and try to get some more information from them.

The dash through town to get to the other side of the forest where he frequently met them was quick and uneventful. Most of the people had returned to their homes for the evening and the two humans Naruto saw didn't even notice him as they tended to their evening chores. The forest was quiet and the dead lizard they had left for him was still there. Perhaps he should return it to them and contribute to their breakfast. He certainly wasn't going to eat it.

Moments later, the kitsune began to arrive, greeting him warmly and asking how he was feeling. Naruto was happy to report that his injuries had healed and he was feeling much better. Then the kitsune started talking again about the night before and how much fun it was to pull pranks on humans again. After the arrangement between them and the humans, they got to pull very little if any pranks on anyone. It was something they enjoyed doing and couldn't. It seemed there were downsides to the offerings arrangement.

"Well, what should we do? Go for the farm or go in town?"

The kitsune had to decide where to look for food tonight.

"Is there anything to hunt?"

"Very little. But we could try."

Naruto had to wait to ask his questions. For the time being, they had to hunt.

They took him behind the mountain, which was rare for them to do. According to them, it was harder to find animals in this area because the land was more rocky and unstable. Most animals knew that was where the kitsune lived so they had a tendency to avoid it.

"I thought your home was on top of the mountain," he asked them while climbing the rocky walls of the mountain.

"We do," answered Sonar. "But this mountain is very vast. Where we usually take you to hunt is a good place because it's far away from the humans and near the other side of the mountain where lost of animals go. The mountain has more than two sides to it, you know. And the mountain isn't just a cone shape. It spreads out over a long ways."

Naruto understood. "Just like how there isn't just north, south, east and west. There's also things like northeast and stuff, right? That's how it works with the mountain faces. And that some parts of the mountain are steeper than others. I get it. So the area we're in now..."

"It's treacherous. Lots of loose rocks and the land crumbles away, the water doesn't flow in this direction, the trees are very dense. It's not a popular place for animals. Think of it as a wasteland."

"Do plants grow here?"

Sonar shook his head. "Not food plants. Because of the harsh land, a lot of trees end up getting uprooted and what trees are able to grow here don't bear fruit. There are a lot of weeds and moss and bugs. When it rains, the earth becomes damp and because of how the land is, it tends to stay trapped here for a while, forming a marsh that goes away in the summer. In winter, this all becomes ice. The damp land causes landslides and more trees end up being pushed out of the soil and slide downhill. This is why very few animals come here. It's dangerous."

"Even when we were hungry and looking for food, our hunting travels in this area weren't very good," added Lunabell. "Too few animals and too much danger. Even birds are afraid to build their nests here because of the trees falling over. Moles don't even have homes in this soil because it will cave in on them. Hunting is very hard here. No animals."

"We're only trying here on the off chance of finding something. Like an animal looking for some sweet grass or mushrooms to eat."

Naruto could see why animals didn't come to this part of the mountain. Rocks kept slipping and sliding under his paws and the fallen trees Sonar spoke of were everywhere. It looked like a lumber yard. If more than one fox stood on a log, it would start to sink in the mushy soil and get swallowed up. Once or twice, Naruto's paws got trapped in the mud and he needed help to get out. Lunabell sunk up to her chest and Naruto had to pull her out by the scruff of her neck while balancing on a rock. There was nothing to hunt here. It was a deathtrap if nothing else.

Ryosuke took the foxes further up the mountain where it was safer and away from the unstable land. They kept close to the wall of the mountain, making their way to the other side where, hopefully, there would be better luck finding food. They spread out and searched. Aurora caught a bird that was hiding in a tree, Sonar found some edible plants and Naruto managed to catch a mouse that was trying to escape between two rocks. Ryosuke caught the bulk of the food, hunting down and catching a weasel and a snake. They took their findings up the mountain to where they lived to eat in peace.

Once on top of the mountain, they dumped their spoils in a pile on the ground and tried to divide everything up evenly. Naruto added the dead lizard from the night before to the pile and Seki and Sammi dug up some food they had buried. They couldn't save it anymore. Finally, they had enough for everyone to have a fair share.

Naruto had worked up an appetite running around the mountain with the others so he happily joined them in their 'feast'. When the females went off to wash themselves after being soaked in mud, they returned with a fish they had caught and shared it with Ryosuke, who had eaten very little. Wanting to help feed them just a little more, Naruto ran off alone to get something else. He went straight to the farm and grabbed the biggest ear of corn her could find and brought it back up the mountain.

This was some hard work. Because they could only bring back what they could carry in their mouths, it took them a while to collect much of anything that could be considered a meal. This was such a hassle. The corn didn't come close to feeding the nine kitsune, which meant he had to run back and get more. No wonder they tried to eat as much as they could while they were there before bringing some back for later. It made a lot of sense.

Ryosuke ran off from the group and returned with even more food from the farm. He and Naruto were thinking the same thing. He only managed to bring back a tomato and a few leeks. At least it was something.

When everyone was fed, Naruto relaxed by the cliff and watched the sky with Seki.

"It's a beautiful night," commented Seki.

Naruto grunted in response. Then he asked, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"I've been trying to find the two-tailed fox for you guys but I keep reaching dead ends."

"Don't worry about it, Naruto." Despite his words, Seki sounded disappointed. It was as if he expected this would happen. "We've been trying for years. No one who has had any luck has ever returned. It's strange when you consider yourself lucky for failing, huh?"

"I narrowed it down to two people but they don't fit all the pieces so I'm still not sure where Reevo could be."

"What sort of pieces?" Seki turned his head.

"Well... For instance, I thought it was the prince since he disappeared at night, but then I realized it couldn't have been him because he was up during the day and foxes sleep at night."

Seki looked puzzled for a moment then he spoke. "Actually, foxes can alter their sleeping pattern depending on when hunting is better. We can train ourselves on whether or not we're nocturnal. If hunting is better during the day then we train ourselves to sleep at night. If hunting is better at night then we sleep during the day."

"Oh." Naruto thought that founded familiar somehow but he couldn't remember where he heard it. "Ok, so a fox can train itself on when it sleeps. Ok... But there's more." Naruto went to the next issue. "I also thought it was the guy in town, but I realized it couldn't have been him because he was human at night."

"So?" asked Seki.

"So? So foxes only appear at night. Like me. I change into a fox at night. Therefore, it couldn't have been the old man or the prince, because I saw both of them as humans when the sun was down. Well, not the old man in person, but I know he was human when it was night. If they were kitsune, then they would have changed into foxes at night like I do. That's why I thought the prince ran to his room when the sun went down to hide his transformation. But when I saw him come downstairs as a human and it had been night for a while, I knew it couldn't have been him." Naruto sighed. "So I was back at square one again."

Seki frowned, giving Naruto a hard look as if he had just said something bizarre no one would ever think of. "What are you talking about?"

"What? Foxes change into their true forms at night, don't they? Like me. So even if the two-tailed fox was disguised as a human, he would change back into his true kitsune form at night."

Seki shook his head. "No. We don't change at night. That's only you because of your curse."

"What?" Naruto's mouth fell open.

"Yes. Even if we're transformed into something else, we can remain in that form day or night," said Seki. "You change at night because that's how you're cursed. But that isn't how it works for regular kitsune. I mean, sure, we can't maintain that form forever since it is unnatural and will have to change back at some point, but we can choose when we do it."

Naruto was stunned. "So... even if a kitsune is transformed... they can choose when they take on that form? It has nothing to do with it being night or not? It's just me?"

"Just you because of how your curse works. We only knew some of the details of your curse because our elders used to place curses on people for revenge or as a prank, so we were taught how they work. But every fox curse is different. Plus when we saw you, we kind of put two and two together. I suppose it was a lucky guess on our part. We could have been wrong. But no, that's not how it works for all kitsune."

Naruto was beside himself with shock and righteousness. The two reasons Naruto had doubt were just proven wrong. Sleeping during the day and changing into a fox at night. What Seki just told him made Naruto rethink everything as he tossed those reasons aside.

If what Seki said was true, then that meant...

"I have to go!" Naruto started down the mountain.

"Wait!" Seki called after him. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the palace!" Naruto didn't stick around to explain or to hear the rest of what Seki was shouting down to him. He had to get back to the palace.

He was right all along. It was him. It had to be him. The doubt was gone. There was no reason why he couldn't have been.

Naruto raced back to the palace as fast as he could. He ignored the dog barking behind him and the lights on in the homes that cast his shadow upon the ground like a monstrous companion. He had to get back as soon as possible. Though he had a feeling he was right, he didn't want to involve the kitsune. Not on the off chance that he was wrong but rather to protect them. They had done so much for him and they had suffered so much. He couldn't risk them coming along only to get cursed themselves or for the prince's guards to attack and possibly kill them if caught. Naruto was already under a curse so he figured he couldn't get cursed twice.

When Naruto squeezed between the bars of the gate and ran up hill toward the prince's bedroom, he realized that there was no open window for him to climb through. He could always go back through the window he had exited but then he would run into the guards standing outside the prince's bedroom. Maybe some fox fire could distract them, but then what of the door? How would he open it? Maybe he could possess one of the men and hope their will wasn't strong like the hunter's from the other night. He managed to resist Naruto and pulled him out. The hunter didn't seem that bright so if he could do it, what could these guards do? There had to be another way.

"Of course! That's it!" Naruto ran to the garden the prince had shown them, claiming it was his private garden. "Thank you, Neji." If it hadn't been for Neji interrogating the prince, he would have never known about the secret passages or their locations. One of the passages was located in the garden and led right into the prince's room. Now if he could only find it.

He sniffed around the yard for something that smelled like it was out of place. If it weren't for the kitsune teaching him how to track scent, he would have never been able to attempt this. His nose picked up something that smelled of metal. It was under a bush. Naruto dug around until his paws touched the metal latch of a secret door. Now he just had to figure out how to open it. It was surprisingly easy. The metal door was light enough for Naruto to pull open with his teeth. It slid at an angle, like rice paper doors, and disappeared in the bush. Though the passage was well hidden, it didn't get past Naruto's nose. Once the small door was open, Naruto squeezed into the hole and dropped down into a stone hallway. There was no light, but thankfully Naruto had excellent night vision. The tunnel went in only one direction. Naruto followed the tunnel, running as fast as he could until he came to another door.

This was it. Naruto's heart beat with excitement. On the other side of this was the two-tailed fox. He wanted it to be him. He wished for it to be him so much and now at last he got his wish. This was the two-tailed fox. It had to be.

Naruto pushed the small door open with both paws and it opened with a dull creak. Naruto tumbled forward and rolled across the soft red and tan carpet. The room was warm and clean. It was well furnished and there were numerous decorations and books. Naruto's eyes scanned every corner of the room, from the chair by the fireplace to the desk covered with papers and small stuffed animals to the potted plant by the lamp, all the way to the boy sitting up in bed staring at him.

The prince looked the same as ever. Nothing foxy about him. He was dressed in his night clothes and all his jewelery had been removed for bed. It didn't look like he had been sleeping long or if at all. His hair wasn't very messy and his eyes didn't look the least bit heavy. He looked slightly startled to see a fox in the middle of his floor but not too thrilled either.

Naruto stood up and growled at the prince in bed. "You! I knew it all along."

Prince Akio looked Naruto up and down, then said calmly with a bit of wonder in this voice, "My, my, a talking fox. How interesting."

"Don't give me any of that crap!" Naruto barked. "Don't act all surprised! You know I can talk... Reevo!"

Akio blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Reevo? What on earth are you talking about? My name is Akio. I am the prince of this palace. You must have me confused with someone else."

"Drop the act! I know it's you!"

Akio looked a little hurt. "Whatever are you talking about?"

"You're Reevo, the two-tailed fox." Naruto knew it was him. Just to make sure Reevo knew it, too, Naruto gave him the evidence he gathered over this past week. "Ryosuke told me how you left the group of kitsune a few years ago. You wanted to live the life of a human."

"So you think I'm that fox?" the prince almost scoffed.

"What better human to take the life of than that of a prince? You don't have to pick up after yourself, people take care of you, serve you, even bring you food. Any food you ask for. You can pretty much do whatever you want. Even boss people around and be a leader. Pretty great, huh? But that's not the only reason I know it has to be you. You've been giving me clues all week and then some."

"Oh?" Akio sat back in bed, interested to hear what he had to say.

"My first clue was when you seemed nervous when Neji told you that he could see through walls. Of course you were upset. You didn't want to risk Neji seeing you in your fox form, which you must change into from time to time. You also said that you didn't like dogs. Plus, people never go into your room, no matter what. You don't want to risk them finding out the truth. My next clue came from the lord you imprisoned. He said that you haven't been the same since a few years ago. Food from your trades have gone missing, even after he saw it in the cart. The next second, it's a pile of dirt or nothing at all. That sounds like fox magic to me. You made the illusion that there were things to trade when the thing was empty all along. His dog also started growling at you, because a dog can detect a kitsune. You didn't accept foods you normally like because, to a fox nose, it's too strong a smell and you can't stand it. And the other thing about the assassins the lord hired, we never did catch the last guy. You know what I think?"

Akio said nothing and watched him.

"I think you saw him come into your room and put a curse on him. He would have been the first to arrive. We never did find him. But the funny thing is that you got a new ornament the very night he went missing. I think that's what you cursed him to turn into."

The prince didn't react to any of the things Naruto had said. He just sat there and listened.

"Also, you lied. I checked around town and no one complained about the foxes, not even the farmer. You hired those hunters on your own and made up an excuse. You also seemed really upset when they didn't finish the job and ran off. The thing that got my attention the most was the fact that you knew exactly where to find them. How could you have known that unless you were one of them? The timing of everything is also pretty convenient. The lord said that you started to act funny around the same time Reevo left the group. Changes started happening right after that, including the offerings coming to a sudden stop. It all happened after Reevo left."

Naruto gave Akio a hard look.

"Everything about you just screams it. The timing, the way you act, everything. I've known it for a while and now I have all the proof I need."

Akio sat quietly. Even after Naruto had finished speaking, he remained quiet.

Slowly, the prince started to smile. His lips curled into a wicked foxy grin and he began to chuckle. "And here I thought you were an idiot. I'm surprised you figured it out."

His voice had changed. He didn't sound anything like the prince. His voice was a little deeper with a lot more malice. Slowly he raised his head and Naruto was met with glowing yellow eyes. The same eyes Naruto saw their first night at the palace and the very eyes he saw when he was cursed. Two furry fox ears popped out of the top of the prince's head and his grin became even more wicked.

"You're right, Naruto," he sneered. "I am the two-tailed fox."

* * *

Gasp!

Who saw this coming? A lot, right?

Please review! ^-^


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

He knew it. He knew it! The prince was really the two-tailed fox. Reevo had disguised himself as Prince Akio and took over his life. He had been fooling everyone for years. This explained everything.

Naruto was triumphant. He exposed the impostor. He was happy about that but he was mostly pleased to know that his first guess was the correct one. It was the prince all along. He was right. Now Naruto had an excuse to beat him up like he had been wanting to do from day one. Now he could pound him to his heart's content.

"You are very clever, Naruto," said the prince, now identified to be Reevo. "Just what I'd expect from a kitsune. Still, it was foolish of you to come alone."

Naruto's eyes darted to the open secret door behind him, tucked carefully behind a curtain. His eyes went back to the prince, not wanting to take his eyes off him for too long. "I didn't want them to get cursed like the others."

"Ah, yes. Them." Reevo began to chuckle. "It's funny. Some of them discovered me on accident. They crossed my path at the wrong time. Some thought it was me, like Reki, and I had to do something about it."

So it was true. Reki did find out the truth and Reevo had to silence him.

"Other foxes came here to ask the prince why the offerings had stopped. They came pleading for an answer, begging for mercy. They came to reason with the prince. How silly is that?"

Naruto let out a growl.

Reevo smirked at him in a mocking manner. "Please. Don't look so upset. You aren't even a real kitsune. What the hell do you care?"

"They welcomed me as one of them and treated me as part of their group! Those kitsune have been very good to me and they're my friends! And I promised them that I would help find you and put a stop to all this."

"So you come here alone? Not very smart. Noble as it might be to want to protect them, it's stupid to think you actually stand a chance against me. No matter how long you've trained or how strong you are, I still have more tails than you. I'm more powerful." Reevo's two tails appeared behind his borrowed form, swishing back and forth lazily. "I'm clever, too. How else do you think I've managed to fool everyone in this place for so long?"

"Come on. No one ever suspected?"

Reevo shrugged. "Well, one or two people in the staff have stumbled upon the truth, but I put a curse on them and came up with a reason for their disappearance. Like how they moved to another land or went back because a loved one was sick back home. Stuff like that. Humans will believe anything."

As much as Naruto wanted to rip his face off, there were a few things he had to know. "There's still a couple things I don't understand. For instance, when I turned into a dog the other day, how come you didn't react the way I thought you would?"

"Oh, that." Reevo laughed. "Good try on your part, but it was all pointless." He gestured to his nose. "Your scent. I could smell you. Even when a ninja is transformed, there's no getting past a kitsune's nose. I could tell it was you by your scent."

"Ok, then how come I couldn't smell you as a fox? And the other kitsune. Why couldn't they track you down by your scent?"

"Because I've been living with humans for so long in a human town in a human palace wearing human clothing. It's masked my scent up nicely. It makes it harder to tell. Besides, I've been around so many people, one scent gets transferred to someone else and so on. It makes it more difficult."

"Alright." There was still something Naruto didn't understand. "Even with everything you've done to keep this a secret, there's still one thing I don't get. How were you able to assume the prince's life so seamlessly? You're able to perform as a prince would, do his duties, signs papers and all that. How were you able to do it so well?"

"Oh, that's easy." Reevo leaned back on the bed. "I've studied the prince for a long time. I've watched him for some time, keeping track of everything he does and how he does it."

"But you knew things only the prince would know. Like details about his parents and family history and stuff like that."

Reevo chuckled again. "Some of those things weren't hard to figure out. Some of it's common knowledge. For other things, I had to trick him to get the information. Using a transformation to pose as someone who is interested in him, a maid who wants to know more about his family. Things like that. I also used some dream manipulation for some stuff. Even fox fire, conjuring up images of his dead parents, making him think they were in the room with him."

"That's just cruel!" Naruto knew how torturous it was to place someone's dead parents in front of them. It wasn't just a tease, it was sick. "How dare you toy with someone's feelings like that!"

"Most of the time, the guy thought he was having an intensely vivid dream. Which came from his grief. No big deal."

"What about the secret passages?" asked Naruto. "How did you know about those?"

"Oh, come on!" Reevo laughed. "How do you think I took over his form and did away with the real one? The prince has his habits. One of them is coming to the garden on sleepless nights to look at the sky and the night flowers. I saw him come out of that passage loads of times. That's when I jumped him and took his form." Reevo was laughing again. "You should have seen the look on his face when he saw a copy staring back at him! Priceless! His face was just as good when I turned him into a freaking painting and had him mounted on the wall for all to see!"

The painting! No wonder he looked frightened and sad. That was him! The real prince was hanging in the hallway, watching helplessly as this impostor ran his entire home wearing his face. Even worse, no one knew it wasn't really him and therefore never wondered what had become of the real prince. That poor prince must have been suffering so much day in and day out, trapped as a painting of himself.

Naruto let out another growl. Reevo had no remorse whatsoever. He didn't care at all. He enjoyed it! Naruto had to do something to stop him and set things right.

"You're sick! You know that?" Naruto spat. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? How many people are suffering because of you? Cursing those kitsune..." It finally sunk in. "Wait a minute." Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "You. You hired those hunters to kill them. You... wanted them dead. You knew all along who they were."

"Of course I did." Reevo smirked again. He was proud of this.

"So then..." Naruto could hardly believe it. "And the offerings..." He understood the truth. "It wasn't that you stopped enforcing the offerings once you took over the prince's life..."

Reevo nodded. "I ordered the offerings to stop. I told everyone to no longer leave food outside for the kitsune. Very few asked for a reason, going blindly with whatever the prince says. But those who did question were given whatever answer I could come up with at the time. They bought it. I basically told them that it was doing more harm than good and that it would be better to stop. When there were further questions, I told them that there was a food shortage and that the kitsune no longer needed it. That we had come up with other arrangements. Something like that. I can't really remember what I said at the time."

"Do you have any idea how much they've suffered because of that?!" Naruto yelled. Naruto spoke from the anger of a kitsune and as a friend. He ran with them, hunted with them, learned from them. He saw first hand how they suffered. What it was like to be hungry. How little they had to eat. The pitiful scraps they managed to dig up from the trash and the paltry some from the forest. They had so little and so many kitsune.

"If you ask me, I did them a favor by cursing so many of them. They don't need to eat if they're an object."

Naruto snarled at Reevo's remark. "They're starving up there!"

"I know. That was the plan," Reevo explained calmly. "I knew without their offerings, one of two things would happen. They would either starve to death, or they would be forced to go into town to eat which would result in the humans attacking and possibly killing them. Both of which works fine with me."

"You want them dead?" Naruto breathed.

Reevo didn't nod, but his smirk and smug tone told Naruto everything he needed to know. He wanted them to die.

"I knew they would never leave the mountain. It's their home, after all. They were all born there. Have family there. They were there first and then the humans came in and built this town," Reevo explained with an air of malice in his voice. "Since it wasn't happening soon enough and that they were getting closer and closer to finding out who I was, I had to hire those hunters to finish the job. I thought they would all be dead by now. It was an oversight on my part, I guess you could say."

"You keep saying 'they' live there and 'they' have family there. But you're a kitsune, too, Reevo!"

"Not anymore, I'm not." Reevo leaned back on the bed, resting his arms on his twin tails as if they were the arms of a chair. "I never liked being a kitsune. I hated living in the mountain, having to work for everything I had, even the food I ate. I wanted more. I wanted to be a human and live as one of them. They have the better life. Some better than others."

"But those kitsune are so kind and helpful. Even to me. They knew I was a human but they still accepted me."

Reevo scoffed. "I'm aware of that. They treated me well, too. But I hated them. I always did. They prefer to live peaceful lives among humans, while I prefer to do as I please. Pranks aren't enough for me and not the kind they like. My ideas were seen as cruel. They were always content with their lives in the mountain. I hate them. All of them and everything they stand for. Now that I'm a human, I want nothing to do with them. Even every memory of them must be done away with. I want every last trace of that old life I had before this gone, completely erased. And that means wiping them out."

"You're sick!" Naruto barked. "How could you-"

"I want nothing to do with them. Not even a reminder of them or that old life," said Reevo. He didn't sound upset at all about losing his friends. He didn't even get emotional when he spoke about having them all murdered. "Plus, I can't risk them finding out the truth about me and then blabbing to the humans. Do you have any idea what they would do to me if they found out? That I have been pretending to be the prince for all these years while the real one is hanging in the hallway, helpless and afraid? They'd torture me and would even have me killed. I can't let that happen. And besides, I hate kitsune and everything about them. I'm a human now. Not just a human, but a prince. I can have it done if I wish. I'll have every last one of them wiped out. I want them all dead."

"Reevo!"

Reevo's ears perked up and his yellow eyes went straight to the secret door. Naruto turned his head to look. Ryosuke was standing in the passageway with a look of horror and shock on his face.

He slowly stepped into the room and looked the prince over, from head to tail. Reevo seemed surprised to see him at first but now looked indifferent. Ryosuke stood in the middle of the room, staring wordlessly at Reevo for what seemed like minutes. Naruto couldn't see his face since his back was to him as he faced Reevo, but Naruto could sense what he must have been feeling. He had just heard that one of his own kind had plotted to have them all killed. Not only that, but he had been trying for years. It wasn't a quick death he was planning for them either. Taking away the offerings meant dying a slow death of starvation. If that didn't work, then they would end up being killed by humans which meant another painful way to go. A hunter's traps were slow, agonizing torture, and an average human catching them outside meant dying by the unskilled hands of someone with whatever they had available. They could have been beaten to death or stabbed and left to bleed out. Everything Reevo had planned for their demise was nothing short of horrific.

"Why?" Ryosuke's voice was soft and sad.

Reevo just looked at him with the same indifferent expression. He had no remorse for the hell he put these foxes through and didn't care that one of them had just overheard his plans to murder them all.

"Reevo... Why?" Ryosuke asked again. His voice was breaking. "Tell me why!" he shouted.

As he did so, some of his tears fell to the carpet. This was the second time Naruto saw Ryosuke cry.

"You heard me," said the stoic Reevo. "I want you all dead. I can't stand the sight of any of you."

"All those years..." said Ryosuke quietly. "All those years in the mountain. From the time we were pups to when our parents left the world to us... Everyday. Us hunting together and gathering food together. Running up and down the mountain together. Playing games together. The time we shared... none of that means anything to you? At all? None of it? We grew up together. You and I, and Seki and Aurora and Eago and Luna-"

"That was my old life. I want nothing to do with it anymore and that includes you." Reevo's eyes gleamed dangerously as he sat under his canopy bed. "I wanted you dead for a while. When I became a two-tails, I knew I would finally get my wish. I could do it and do it as a human. It was perfect. I thought everything out. I had been planning this for years. Of course I couldn't do it as a single-tailed fox. But once my tail started to split, I started to take some steps to ensure that you would get killed one way or another."

"Such as?" Naruto asked, stepping closer to Ryosuke.

"I used some of the pranks I prefer on some of my favorite people in town. Well, just one family in particular. The old geezer in town and his wife. She had a heart condition and what I liked to do was scare her with haunting visions from my fox fire. I would crawl into the house and leave things in her path for her to tip over and would sneak up on her and frighten her good. Sometimes I would make her think I had eaten her arm off her body and show her visions of her blood pooling on the floor."

"We do not use those kinds of pranks, Reevo! That's not funny! It's cruel!" snapped Ryosuke. "We would only scare humans with creepy visions when they are a danger to us and we want them to run away. That's it! We never to it for laughs and we never take it that far!"

"You don't. But I do." Reevo sneered again. "You stop when they scream or when they run. I keep going. In fact, I scared her so bad her heart finally gave out and she died!" Reevo started laughing hysterically.

Naruto and Ryosuke weren't laughing. It made Naruto sick. It was no wonder that old man in town hated animals and why he was so bitter. Now Naruto couldn't blame him for killing the first kitsune he saw outside his home. Reevo had provoked him and did so on purpose so from then on he would associate any kitsune he saw with that one who scared his wife to death. Now he thought they were all like that and believed everyone of them was cruel and killed them on sight. Seki's brother was one of the unlucky ones. If Reevo hadn't done what he did, it might never have happened. Things might had turned out a lot differently. In fact, now Naruto saw Reevo as the killer. He was just killing through a brokenhearted and revengeful old man.

"Like I said," Reevo's laugh was getting softer. "I've been planning for years. Even going that far to make sure someone would want to kill you in town. He was the easiest target."

"You're sick!" Naruto barked loudly. "Because of you, Seki's brother is dead!"

"And the other one is on my shelf. Big deal."

Naruto began to snarl and showed his teeth, ready for a fight. If only Ryosuke wasn't in his way, he would have attacked by now.

"You didn't think everything out completely, Reevo," he said.

Naruto's anger calmed somewhat, now curious about what Ryosuke had to say.

"Oh?" questioned Reevo.

"You may look like the prince and you might have put on a good act but there's one thing you cannot imitate and that is your downfall."

Naruto and Reevo waited for the answer.

"Aging," he said at last. "When a kitsune takes on the form of a human, they only take on the appearance the human is at that moment. Don't you see, Reevo? Humans age and at a faster rate than kitsune. You transformed into him three or so years ago, but you still look as he did three years ago. He hasn't aged a day. And you will always look this way because a transformation cannot age. Don't you think the humans will start to catch on when the prince still looks like a child when he is fifty years old? They'll know something's wrong. What then, Reevo?"

That was an excellent point. If Reevo couldn't age the body it would be problematic. The prince needed to age and Reevo couldn't do that.

"Well..." he said slowly. "I've thought about it. For now, I'm ok. But in a few years, yes, I will need to age his body, which is something I can't do. I cannot alter the form I've taken on. It's as it is at that moment and nothing can be changed. What I thought about doing was letting the prince out of his curse for a moment, see how he looks, and then put the curse back on him. And if that doesn't work and people start to catch on, then I'll simply curse them and get on with my life."

"So your plan is to silence anyone who starts to notice that you might not really be the prince?" said Naruto. "That's crazy!"

"You'll curse everyone in town, all his staff, until there's no one left."

"Then I'll pretend to be another human."

"And curse them just like you did the prince and no doubt leave everyone you've already cursed exactly how they are!" said Ryosuke.

Reevo looked very proud, as if Ryosuke was praising him for his cleverness. "It's a work in progress. I'm sure I'll come up with something. I don't really want to stop being a prince, after all. I like it."

"You just took over someone else's life!" said Naruto, stepping closer. "You didn't work for it. Basically, you're taking credit for what other people have done."

"So?" Reevo scoffed. "Weren't you listening? I never liked working for anything. Not my food, not to keep living, nothing. This way, it's easy."

Naruto could never support such a thing. Everything he wanted, he had to work for. Even if it was hard, it was worth doing. Like becoming Hokage. If he didn't do anything to get that title, then he didn't want it. That just wasn't how it was done. It was meant to be done with hard work.

Then another question entered his mind. "Wait a second," said Naruto. "You said that the life of a prince is great, but it's not. Princes get attacked by people all the time. Even those assassins."

"I knew what they were plotting," said Reevo. "Since I knew that the lord was starting to suspect, if figured something was going to happen."

"Still..." Naruto looked down in thought. "He went through all that trouble to hire assassins to pose as his helpers and yet he still sent those threatening letters to you? He really blew it on that if you ask me."

"Oh, he didn't send those letters to me," said Reevo. "I did."

Naruto looked up. "Huh? You sent them to yourself? Why?"

Reevo's tails wagged as he lifted himself up, as if proud of his reasons. "First, I was bored. But secondly, I was looking for a mate."

"A mate?" Naruto repeated. Then that meant he was right about him flirting with Sakura. He was hitting on her.

"Yes," said Reevo. He seemed very proud of himself and spoke smugly to the two foxes on his carpet. "Human or fox, I'm still a male and I have needs. But I couldn't very well marry anyone from town. Since the prince never leaves to go into town, it would seem odd having a town girl on my arm. And I certainly couldn't date any of the help. That's not very becoming of a prince. Odd, really. A prince marries higher class than that. I had heard that ninja females existed so I wrote those letters to myself to get the staff worked up and I would write it off as nothing. I've always found the prince to be a bit naive so I figured he wouldn't be too bothered by it anyway and be more concerned about other people rather than himself. That would get the staff very worried and they would then pressure me, the prince, into sending for help. That way it would be justified. No one would question me sending for ninja aid then."

"So it was all a set up," Naruto growled. "You were never in any real danger at all."

"So the assassins were just in the right place at the right time," added Ryosuke. "Which would stand to reason that if you had not called for help from ninja or anyone for that matter, that when the assassins did attack, you would have cursed them all. Is that right, Reevo?"

Reevo nodded his head with a big smile on his face. "Yes. I have to protect myself, after all. And so what if the lord suddenly went missing? Not my problem. His town would have figured something out and if not who cares?"

Naruto spoke again. "So when you called for aid from a ninja village, did you get to pick who came along? That's not usually how it works. The Hokage gets to decide who gets to go on these missions based on who is available and has the proper skills."

Reevo shrugged. "It was luck of the draw, really." He sat back on his tails again, using them as a cushion. "I had hoped that a female would come along on this mission and the female I would then take as my mate. I was fortunate that a good looking girl came with you on the mission. Sakura isn't half bad looking for a human. But it's not just looks. She's strong and intelligent, too. A decent background and a very capable girl. A suitable mate."

That was the truth of the matter. Reevo got lucky with Sakura. He was really in the market for any female and didn't care who showed up. It just happened to be Sakura. If another female ninja had come along, like Tenten or Ino or Hinata, he would have just as easily picked them. As far as females went, he was pleased with Sakura. He was interested in her strength and skills. He wanted a good mate. He had recommendations. However, if the female who showed up didn't possess any of the qualities he was looking for, then he would simply settle for whatever girl showed up to the palace.

"But wait," Naruto said. "What if no girl showed up? What if it was all guy ninja who came here and there were no girls? What then?"

Reevo threw up his hands in a shrug. "Eh. I would have figured something out. Maybe tried again later or come up with some lie stating that there had to be at least one female with them for some reason. I'm clever."

"Clever?" It was Naruto's turn to scoff at him. "You were looking for any girl. Any! Sure you have your own check list of what you want, but when it comes right down to it, you would have just settled for anyone. You don't give a damn about the girl who shows up. You couldn't care less about them, what they like, their interests. You just want any old girl to take as your mate. You're not clever, you're shallow! You just reach in and pick any girl at random."

"I was clever enough for Sakura," he chuckled smugly.

Naruto's claws scratched the carpet under his paws. He hated that tone and that look on his smug stolen human face.

Reevo leaned forward on the bed, smirking at him as if he had the whole world figured out. "Oh, yes. While you were doing your own investigating and sleeping off your nightly adventures, I've been cuddling up to Sakura. She's a smart girl. I got lucky with this one."

Naruto growled, but Reevo wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

"I've been keeping her happy. I've given her everything she could ever want. I've made sure she's happy and comfortable. She's given only the finest of things and treated like an honored guest. Girls are easy to fool. Pay them a few complements, shower them with gifts, treat them like royalty, and they'll fall in line." Reevo started chuckling and his tails flicked the air like tall, bushy orange flames. "Even if I didn't do any of that, I'm a prince. What girl doesn't want a prince? Sakura's no different. Girls want a rich, handsome husband. One who will give them everything they want and more. What girl doesn't want to marry a prince? It's easy!"

Naruto snarled and his tail began to swish.

"Aw, did I strike a nerve?" Reevo laughed. "Haha, don't look so upset, Naruto. Like you ever stood a chance. As if Sakura could ever want you. Come on. Between the two of us, who do you think she would choose? A prince who treats her like a rare and beautiful treasure, or a lowly ninja who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut?"

This guy was asking for it.

"Come on, Naruto. Don't think I haven't noticed. You've been pissing her off ever since you got here. And that's just here. I can only imagine how many times you piss her off during your daily lives. How many times does she yell at you? How many times does she hit you? How many times have you annoyed her? How many times have you said the wrong thing? How many times do you speak without giving it an ounce of thought? How many times have you messed up? And what of this? How many times have you asked her out on a date and how many times has she said yes?"

Naruto's tail dropped and his anger was replaced with shock and heartache. He was right. Sakura had never once agreed to go out on a date with him, no matter how many times he asked. She was almost always yelling at him and she punched him almost all the time. Most of the time, he never knew what he did. He had even hurt her before when he lost control of himself and scratched her arm as the nine-tailed fox took over. He never meant to hurt her but he did. He messed up a lot. When Sasuke left, all she ever did was ask Naruto to bring him back. She didn't even reach for Naruto. She was still clinging to Sasuke. He never stood a chance.

"Face it, Naruto," hissed Reevo. "She doesn't want you. How could she? Especially when compared to me?"

Naruto lifted his gaze to glare at him. "Sakura's my friend."

"So? Friends can only get you so far. I can give Sakura whatever she wants. Can you do that?"

"I may not be a rich prince or anything like that, but I am her friend and I am always there for her. I can protect Sakura and I-"

"It doesn't matter, Naruto. You're not the one she wants. You're just chasing shadows. Sakura will pick me. I've been hinting at her for some time that I wish to have her as my princess. I even intend to ask her to stay at the palace with me and be my bride. How could she pass it up? She won't. No girl can resist a prince. And what girl wouldn't want to be a princess? She won't have to do anything anymore. No more dangerous missions, no more getting dirty or having to work. She can relax in a palace with a prince and be royalty. She'll take my offer, Naruto. She'll happily be with me and leave you and the rest of the filth behind."

"Sakura would never choose a lowlife like you! You're not sincere at all! You just use charming words to get people to do what you want and use them. You don't even care about Sakura. Her only value to you is being female! That's it! You don't care about her at all or anyone for that matter. I care about Sakura because she's my friend!"

"Sakura doesn't even like you. She doesn't care about you." Reevo hissed. "She'll pick me over you any day. Who could blame her? It's no contest. Who would want someone like you anyway? Who could ever care about you?"

Ryosuke stood so close to Naruto that their fur rubbed together in a gentle caress. "I do. I care about him," he said. "I don't care if Naruto is human or not. Naruto is Naruto and that's all I care about. Naruto is my friend and I care about him."

Reevo laughed. "I wouldn't put it past you to like a flea like him, but really? What could you possibly see in him? What makes him worthy of friendship?"

"Naruto is kind and caring. He has courage and he will always protect his friends. And he never gives up. No matter what. He will always be there for you and he will always fight for what he believes in and he never goes back on his word. Even if he promises the impossible, he will do his best to deliver, which is truly admirable." Ryosuke turned away to look into Naruto's eyes. When their eyes met, Ryosuke smiled. "He is a true friend and one worth protecting."

Naruto smiled back.

Reevo laughed cruelly, taking everything they said as a joke. Even without saying anything, he continued to mock them. He laughed so much, some of his fox features were beginning to show on his stolen face. For a few moments, his face turned into a muzzle and his teeth turned into fangs. These features shifted on his face, going from human to fox and back again. Once he was through laughing, his foxy features melted away and once again the prince's face was staring at them with a twisted smile.

"See, Ryosuke," he said in his smug tone. "This is exactly why I always saw you as weak. You're pathetic. Always putting others before yourself, willing to go so far even though you know it is pointless. Even when you do not possess the strength to do anything, you are still willing to try. You should only bother trying if you know you stand a chance. If there is the promise of winning, then you do something. If there is no promise then don't bother. That's the smart thing to do."

"I am willing to try and that takes guts, Reevo."

"Guts? Ha! That's what's going to be splattered on the ground if you do not run away from the challenge. It's not even worth trying."

"I am willing to try for the sake of my friends!" Ryosuke said confidently. "The ones you abandoned because you felt they were beneath you. The ones you thought were weighing you down. I love my friends and I'm willing to protect them. All of them!"

"You cannot deliver such an impossible promise, Ryosuke."

"I am willing to try. I don't want to lose them. And I will not let you hurt any more of my friends! I will not let you hurt anyone else!"

"You're a fool!" barked Reevo. "That is an impossible promise, Ryosuke. Don't you see? Standing before a power stronger than your own means nothing short of failure. You can never win. And you can never defeat me! I'm stronger than you. Stronger than both of you. Even if you trained hard for every moment of your sorry life, you will never be able to stop me. I have more tails than you. You and the rest of them. I'm stronger than you, Ryosuke! You don't stand a chance against me!"

Ryosuke snarled, showing his teeth. "Then this might help!" Ryosuke's tail swished from side to side.

There came a sound like tearing fabric. Naruto watched Ryosuke's tail in awe. The very tip of his tail had already begun to split, which he had been keeping hidden under his fur. Now that his tail was moving so quickly, the split was more noticeable. The tearing sound wasn't coming from the tip but from the middle of his tail which had now begun to divide. With a loud crack, Ryosuke's tail split into two, sending sparks and flame into the air like the light from a firework.

Ryosuke had become a two-tailed fox. All for the sake of his friends.

Naruto couldn't resist the smile spreading across his face. He knew what this meant. What this meant for Ryosuke and the rest of the kitsune. This second tail was irrefutable truth that Ryosuke was now the leader of the kitsune in the mountain. And now an equal match for Reevo. He stood a chance now.

On the bed, Reevo looked like someone had a knife to his throat. Once he recovered from his shock, Reevo narrowed his eyes with a snarl. "So, you actually were willing to become a two-tails. I never thought you would have the guts to do it. I figured you would resist the transformation because you were too afraid of changing into someone like me."

"I am nothing like you," answered Ryosuke. "I would never abandon my friends. And if it's to protect them, I'm willing to sacrifice anything for them. Even this." Ryosuke looked at the two tails wagging behind him. "Even doing something as difficult as this... knowing how I feel about it... Yeah. I'm willing to do it for them."

Reevo snarled again. "You're pathetic. If you were truly strong you would do whatever you want to do."

"Sometimes, doing what's best for others means doing what you don't want to do. The same thing goes for doing what's best."

Reevo snorted. "Even your words are foolish. I do whatever I please. Who cares if it's right or for the best of others? I do whatever I want. If someone else gets screwed from me doing so then so be it. I don't care. I only look out for me. To hell with all of you."

"And you're running the town." Naruto scoffed. "You don't deserve to lead anybody."

"Who says I want to?" Reevo looked back at Ryosuke. "You know what? I think after I finish dealing with you, I'll go into that mountain myself and curse the rest of you and be done with it. Maybe I'll drop them off the cliff so they shatter, killing them all. Maybe I'll do the same to the objects in the palace. There's so much stuff and so many I've cursed, I don't know the cursed from the regular objects anymore. I've lost track. I'll just break them all." He looked at Naruto. "And once I'm done, I'll take Sakura as my mate. She won't say no. She'll be proud. Hell, she'll beg to be my mate. Maybe I'll even keep you alive so you can see it for yourself, Naruto. Won't that be something?"

He was asking for it. He was asking for it! Naruto couldn't stand it anymore. He bent all four of his legs, preparing to spring. Then a noise caught his sensitive fox ears and he paused. A rattling sound was coming from the ceiling. The others heard it, too, and looked up.

A tile from the ceiling was lifted and pushed off to the side and someone came down from the hole in the ceiling. The person jumped down and landed beside them. It was a human. A ninja.

Naruto gasped and tried to hide his face from his friend, hoping she wouldn't recognize him.

Upon seeing her, Reevo hid his fox features and changed his demeanor at once. "Oh! Sakura!" he said in the prince's voice. "Thank goodness you're here. These foxes came in and started threatening me. I think they might be in league with the assassins. Please, help me."

Sakura stood looking from fox to fox and then to the prince. "Save it!" she snapped.

Reevo blinked. "Pardon?"

"I heard the whole thing!" she said pointing at him. "You're not the real prince at all. You're an impostor!"

Reevo swallowed. For once he was at a loss for words.

Naruto kept his head down but tried to look at her at the same time.

"I had a feeling something was up so I hid in the ceiling. Naruto left the palace and according to Neji he had been doing that for the past few nights. Then Neji disappeared and I got worried."

Naruto blinked. Maybe hiding Neji was a good thing. It got Sakura worried enough to do a little spying of her own.

"A lot of weird stuff has been going on and I decided to get to the bottom of it."

Reevo stayed quiet while Sakura spoke.

"Get out of there!" she ordered him. "I heard it all. You're a fox, aren't you? Don't deny it. I know it's the truth. I also heard you admit doing some pretty cruel things to other people and hiring some hunters to kill your own kind up in the mountain. Also how you cursed the prince so you could take over and the assassin as well. I also heard what you had to say about hiring us for this fake mission."

Reevo crawled out from the shadows of his bed and crouched on the edge of the mattress. "Then you also heard how I wanted to take you for my bride."

"Yeah." Sakura glared at him. "And there's no way in hell I'm doing that. Prince or fox, there is no way I'm marrying you."

Naruto lifted his head. He felt such a strange mixture of surprise and relief. Sakura had no desire to be with the prince and it wasn't just because she knew he was really a fox.

"What?" Reevo was so surprised, he dropped the prince's voice and used his own to speak to her. "But why? If you and I were to marry, you would one day become queen. What girl wouldn't want that?"

"It's not just the things you said," she told him. "Even before I knew you were a fox, I never felt that way about you. Your words were nice and all, but I wasn't falling for it. I knew something was up. Even Naruto knew something was up and he's a moron."

Naruto frowned.

"When it comes right down to it, even if you were a real prince and not some fox, I still wouldn't marry you and become queen. I've made a life for myself. I have a family back home and friends. And I chose to be a ninja. I'm doing what I want. And you know what? I'm good at it. I would never give that up."

"Not even for the good life?" he asked her.

Sakura shook her head. "I have a good life. I like the life I'm living. I would never give it up. I could never abandon my friends. And I certainly could never give it up to be with some prince who talks bad about my friends, especially Naruto!"

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. She would never go with a prince who spoke ill of her friends. Even him. That meant that she did care about him after all and held him in high regard. Which proved that Reevo didn't know what he was talking about. Sakura admitted Naruto was one of her dearest friends and she truly cared about him.

"Maybe if you took the time to actually get to know me rather than see me as just some girl you could make your own, you'd know I would never do that. You would know what kind of girl I am."

Reevo didn't take rejection well as it turned out. Naruto saw the look on his face change to something sinister. "Fine," he growled. "Clearly it's wasted on you in more ways than one. Maybe I could have let it slide that you knew the truth about me if you were fine with it but clearly you're not. I can't let you go knowing my secret. If you refuse to be my mate, then I'll have to find someone else. Maybe one who isn't so crafty or thinks so highly of herself."

Sakura got into a fighting stance, knowing he was bound to attack.

"Too bad. I did like your intelect," said Reevo. "But perhaps, to avoid this in the future, I'll have to go with something who isn't as smart. Seems like a pain." Reevo lifted his eyes which glowed dangerously as they fell on Sakura. "You will regret this, Sakura. Rejecting me, finding out the truth, all of it."

Reevo's fox features were back. He sprang from the bed, his two tails giving him balance as he darted straight toward Sakura with his hand outstretched. Sakura backed up to punch him but he was too fast. Reevo placed his hand on Sakura's stomach. His hand was glowing the same color as fox fire. In fact, it looked like his hand was engulfed in flame.

"Curse!"

No longer caring if she knew it was him, Naruto turned his whole body toward her as she screamed, "Sakura!"

It was too late. There was nothing they could do.

Sakura's body began to glow the same color as Reevo's hand and then began to shrink. Sakura watched in horror as her body rapidly changed into something not human. Her face contorted in a silent scream and she was gone.

"Sakura!" Naruto ran forward.

Reevo took his hand away and stepped back, revealing the small ornament on the floor where Sakura once stood. It was a small glass lotus flower that sparkled in the moonlight. The flower was the same color as Sakura's hair.

"Sakura..." Naruto stood over the object. Nothing about it was human. Could she even see him? Could she hear him? If he were to touch her, would she feel it? Naruto had never seen the curse performed before. It was amazing as much as it was frightening. Naurto bent his head over the glass object and called to it gently. "Sakura?"

Reevo lifted his foot to stomp on the glass flower. He was going to kill her.

"No!" Naruto picked the delicate glass flower up in his mouth and carried it to safety. He had to be extremely careful so as not to break or chip any part of it. He could end up damaging Sakura. Even killing her.

Reevo turned and found Naruto holding object on the other side of the room. When Reevo turned to follow and finish what he started, Naruto jumped to the chair by the fireplace and scampered onto the backrest. From there he climbed to the stone shelf, hoping to be out of reach. When he looked back, he saw Reevo reaching up for them with his human hands. He grabbed Naruto's tail and yanked, trying to bring him down. Naruto yelped and his back legs slipped from the stone. He tried hard not to bite down and hurt Sakura. He kept his jaw stiff, trying to carry her as gently as he could. He gripped the stone frame with his front paws, trying to pull himself up.

If he put Sakura down he could fight back. But if he did, she could get smashed. She was made of glass now. If he put her down, she could slip and fall, shattering on the floor. His perch was made of stone. If he dropped her, she could just as easily break without having to hit the ground. Worst of all, he feared that if he did put her down that Reevo would snatch her up and break her. When it came right down to it, the safest place for Sakura right now was in his mouth.

Suddenly, Reevo stopped pulling and released Naruto's tail. Naruto climbed back up and looked around to see what had happened. Reevo was on the ground and Ryosuke was on top of him, biting him. Naruto watched the two go at it from safely atop the fireplace. Reevo punched Ryouske in the face with his human hands but Ryosuke continued to bite him. When Reevo punched him again, Ryosuke quickly turned his head and bit down on Reevo's knuckles. He howled in pain and started to flail, trying to shake Ryosuke off. They rolled around on the floor, crashing into the wall, the chair and the bookcase.

Naruto debated whether or not to help, but that would require him to put Sakura down. The way they were rolling around, she would be in danger. She was helpless as a glass flower and very fragile. Naruto couldn't risk it.

Reevo threw Ryosuke off but he had changed during their fight. His face had changed into that of a fox and his ears were back on top of his head, one of which was bleeding. His hands had also changed into hybrid paws. His tails swished back and forth, sweeping the floorboards. Ryosuke stood a short distance away, panting and bleeding from his nose. Reevo looked like a hybrid fox now. Aside from his clothes and hair, he looked very different from the human prince he was pretending to be. This fight was causing him to change into his natural form.

Ryosuke charged back in and Reevo kicked him with his hybrid legs. Even they had changed as well. He started to run away from Ryosuke on all fours, just like a fox. As much as he hated being a fox, it was what he truly was and it was something he couldn't fight. This was natural for him. Ryosuke pursued him. Reevo jumped at the last moment, letting Ryosuke sail under him and then planted both feet into his back, flattening Ryosuke to the carpet. Keeping him pinned, Reevo used his hybrid hands to slash Ryosuke repeatedly, drawing blood from his neck, back and head.

Naruto looked around for a place he could hide Sakura so she would be safe and he could fight. As soon as his head was turned from the fight, something went sailing by his head and he pulled back. When he looked, Reevo and Ryosuke were chasing each other around the room again, Reevo was throwing things at the kitsune. Naruto couldn't put Sakura down as long as they were doing that.

Reevo pounced on Ryosuke and the two rolled into the bookshelf again, snarling like beasts. Naruto watched from the fireplace, hoping Ryosuke would be alright. He heard someone yelp and ran to the edge of the shelf to look. Reevo had Ryosuke on his back and was biting his chest with his fox teeth. His whole body had become fox. This was how he truly looked. Now the only thing human about him was the clothing wrapped loosely around his smaller frame. Ryosuke threw him off and made a run for it. Reevo chased him. Shedding his human clothing, he ran after Ryosuke and shoved him roughly into the wall. They rolled over each other and broke apart. They chased each other around the room and came together in another violent attack, knocking over anything in their path.

Finally, their fight took them to the window. Reevo got tangled in the drapes and Ryosuke took this opportunity to slash him across the face. With a mighty pull, Reevo took the drapes down along with the pole supporting them which fell to the ground with a clang. The drapes fell over Ryosuke and the two continued their fight under the fabric where Naruto couldn't see them. They clawed their way out, cutting holes in the cloth and the two emerged still biting and scratching each other mercilessly. They shoved one another until they ended up tumbling out the window into the yard.

Naruto jumped down from his perch and left Sakura on the safest and softest thing he could find. He set her down on the overturned chair which was nicely padded, and whispered to her, "I'll be right back, Sakura. Don't move." His ears drooped. "Well, you know what I mean."

With that, he turned around and ran across the debris to the shattered window. He couldn't see them but he could hear them growling and snarling as their fight continued.

"Hang on, Ryosuke! I'm coming!" To avoid the broken glass, Naruto jumped out the window. He landed in the grass and ran to catch up with them. As he ran, he noticed trails of blood all over the yard. There was blood in the grass, the bush and even on the stone path leading to the rest of the garden. There was a lot of blood and a lot of fur. He hoped Ryosuke was alright.

* * *

Gasp again.

Please review!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

The two kitsune went tumbling down the steep hill to the front yard of the palace. Reevo and Ryosuke rolled over each other again and again before finally breaking apart and sprang forward, biting each other with their sharp teeth. When Naruto caught up to them, they were on their hind legs pushing each other and biting the other's face and chest. It looked like Reevo had Ryosuke in a headlock and was trying to snap his neck. He pulled Ryosuke down at an angle, twisting his head.

Still betting on the idea that he couldn't get cursed twice, Naruto rushed in without fear and tackled Reevo from the side. He pinned Reevo down and started biting him. Reevo kicked Naruto off with his hind legs and took a swipe at him with his claws.

"Fox fire!" Naruto conjured up several illusions of himself to confused Reevo. Being a kitsune, Reevo was able to see through the deception and went straight for the real Naruto. Naruto had forgotten that kitsune weren't so easily fooled by fox fire. Reevo bit down on Naruto's shoulder, drawing blood. "Ahh!" Naruto tried to bite him back but Reevo was just out of reach.

Ryosuke grabbed Reevo by one of his tails and pulled him away from Naruto. Reevo released Naruto and went after Ryosuke. Ryosuke remained just out of reach, holding onto Reevo's tail so they were following each other in circles. Reevo deliberately fell over and started to roll across the lawn, taking Ryosuke with him. Ryosuke let go of his tail and Reevo got up and tried to bite him.

Naruto came at Reevo from the side, pushing him with his paws. Reevo shoved him back and bit Naruo's paw. Fighting as a kitsune was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Despite having been a human for so long, Reevo seemed completely unfazed having to fight as a fox again. This was natural for him so it posed no issue. Naruto being used to fighting as a human was having problems landing a blow. More than once he tried to punch Reevo only to fail miserably. Every time he tried to grab onto Reevo with his front paws, he would lose balance and drop back onto all fours. This was a much harder battle than he thought it would be. If Ryosuke wasn't there to help, Naruto may have never stood a chance.

"I have a good thing going here!" Reevo snapped, scratching Naruto across the face. "I won't let you take it away from me! I finally have what I want!"

"Then you should have worked for it!" Naruto shouted back. "Rather than steal it from someone who already has it, you should have made your own life. A life for yourself! If you wanted to be human so badly then you should have become your own human instead on pretending to be someone else!"

"Who are you to lecture me?!" Reevo scratched Naruto again with his claws. "You know that any form I took on would be that of someone else. A kitsune does not get a form of their own until they become a three-tails. I wasn't going to wait around for that!"

"Then why didn't you take on someone else's form, changed the appearance a little bit by getting a tattoo or something? Or use someone's form from another village and say it's a coincidence that the two of you look so much alike? There were other ways! You didn't have to do this."

"You think I wanted to work in the fields, breaking my back and getting covered in mud every day?" Reevo shoved Naruto into the fountain. "I wanted an easy life! The prince was the perfect person to take that life from! I get to rule, I get everything I could ever ask for and never have to lift a finger. Not to mention everyone treating you with respect and sucking up to you and the admiration. I wanted that!"

"You stole it from him!"

"The hell with the prince!" Reevo snapped. "I was going to kill him that night and be done with it but I wanted to test out my curse ability!"

"You intended to kill him?!"

"Of course I did. I was going to kill those kitsune who found me, too. But I wanted to have some fun and show them how powerful I had become. I cursed them and put them on display for all to see and force them to watch what I was doing as the prince. It didn't really matter to me anyway. Maids can be clumsy. If one of them knocks over a cursed object and breaks it, that person or kitsune dies. You think I care either way? The way I see it, they did the work for me."

Naruto went for Reevo's legs. "You're sick and cruel!" Reevo kicked him and flipped Naruto onto his back and pinned him down.

"You think I care? I was the one who wanted them all dead in the first place. I called the hunters! I stopped the offerings! I made that human in town hate them! And I was going to do the same thing to the rest of them. Don't you get it? I want them all dead! Same thing for any human who gets in my way! I'll kill the prince, the staff, the people in town, Sakura. It doesn't matter to me. I'll do whatever I want!"

Naruto bit Reevo on the jaw when his head was in reach. He tasted blood. Reevo stomped on Naruto's neck, cutting off his air and forcing him to let go.

"I cursed you as well that night. You were following me. I sometimes change into a fox at night. Sometimes it's for the hell of it, and other times it's to see what else I can do to make the humans hate kitsune. Ryosuke and the others want peace. No doubt by now most if not all of them hate or fear humans. I was trying to start a war with them. I wanted the humans to kill them. If I got the kitsune desperate enough or angry enough, I was sure they would start attacking humans themselves. I don't know what took them so long. I was going to give them another push in hopes it would finally put them over the edge."

Reevo had this all planned out. He wanted to make sure there were no loose ends. If one thing didn't work, then he had a back-up. So far, it had been working. Even his plan to get the kitsune to have bitterness toward humans. Most of them were afraid of humans. Especially Seki after seeing what a human had done to his older brother. Sonar was getting angry at the humans and wanted to do something about it. Reevo was pushing him toward the edge. All his pushing was starting to get to both sides. Human and Kitsune. He wanted them to hate each other and for the humans to kill the kitsune.

It really wasn't their fault. Most of what had happened was his doing, not theirs. He was blaming either side for the things he was doing. He made that old man hate kistune enough to make him kill when he saw one near his home. He stopped the offerings to force the kitsune to come into town, going against the deal that was made. The kitsune thought it was the humans when it was actually Reevo manipulating the humans and forcing them to stop the offerings. He called the hunters and blamed it on the demands of the people so the kitsune would think it was their doing.

The way Naruto saw it, it was all Reevo's fault. Sure, some things were the fault of the humans and the kitsune, but he simplified it in his mind and was convinced that if it weren't for Reevo, none of this would have happened. There would have been peace. The old man's wife would still be alive and he wouldn't hate kitsune. The offerings would have continued and the two sides would never bother each other.

"You really hate us that much?" Ryosuke asked, standing over Naruto. Seeing him so close made Reevo back away, but not out of fear. Naruto got to his feet and watched Ryosuke closely. He still looked hurt. This was a kitsune he trusted and grew up with, and he betrayed them all. "You hate us so much you would have us all killed? You would pin things on us and have the humans hate us when we've done nothing?"

"I'm sure you would have done something," said Reevo. "The way I saw it, if I blamed some things on you, and the humans then made a move of their own, then you guys would then do something yourselves, thinking it was justified. I just gave everyone a push."

"What were you doing that night you cursed me?" Naruto asked. If Reevo went out to cause trouble for both sides, what was he plotting that night?

Reevo shrugged. "I was just going to wing it a little. Actually, I was going to do something to make the ninja I called see the kitsune as the enemy as well. That was my original thought. Then I saw you following me and I had to curse you. I was going to turn you into an object and then come up with a story about you disappearing and get your friends all worked up." Then Reevo frowned. "But for some reason, things didn't turn out the way I wanted. I wanted to turn you into an object like I did everyone else, but it didn't work that way with you."

Naruto blinked. Reevo didn't mean to curse him the way that he did?

"I can't always control what a person turns into. If I want them to turn into a small statue, they will, but I can't control the shape they take on. Same thing if I wanted to turn them into a lamp. They will become a lamp, but the color and shape is beyond my control. I wanted to turn you into an ornament, but for some reason you turned out like this and I'm not sure why. Once I saw that you weren't an object, I had to rethink my approach. Not to mention how the change is usually pretty quick. But you were still chasing me so I got scared. That had never happened before."

There was a delayed reaction in Naruto Reevo had never seen before. Naruto was different.

"Don't worry. I can just kill you and call it even." Reevo crouched down, ready to spring. "And as for your friends, there's only two left and something tells me they won't leave without their buddies. Maybe I'll just kill them, too. No one will bother looking for any of you. Ninja die on missions all the time. It won't look out of the ordinary."

Sai and Neji were next on his hit list. Naruto couldn't let that happen. This was turning into an all out war because of this fox. Reevo had gone too far. Now he was going to kill anyone he pleased, not just the ones who posed a threat or got in his way. Anyone.

"Leave Naruto and his friends out of this!" shouted Ryosuke. "This is between you and me!"

"All of you, actually. It's not just you I hate. It's all of you."

"No," said Ryosuke. "As their leader, everything is on me. If you want to get to them, you'll have to go through me. I will protect them."

Reevo laughed. "You can't protect them. You were always too timid for the job. You never wanted to lead. I did. Now look at me. I'm a freaking prince." Reevo bent his four legs. "And as prince, I hereby command you to die!"

Ryosuke shoved Naruto out of the way and the two clashed in the air, Reevo biting Ryosuke's neck.

"Rysouke!" Naruto tried to help.

"No! Stay back, Naruto!" Ryosuke took Reevo with him and the two slammed into the side of the fountain. "He's mine! I have to be the one to do this!"

Naruto stopped and watched. He was right. This was something Ryosuke had to do on his own. How could he lead if he had to relay on others to fight for him? Naruto understood. There was a time for a leader to call for aid and a time to do things on his own. Ryosuke had to do this for his friends. He had to be their leader. This was how it was supposed to be.

"I won't let you hurt anymore people!" Ryosuke pressed Reevo into the side of the fountain. "Human or kitsune, friend or stranger, I won't let you! Leave them all alone!"

"You do not tell me what to do!" Reevo bit Ryosuke's shoulder and bent over backwards, taking Ryosuke with him into the fountain. Naruto couldn't see them from his low perspective, but he could hear a lot of splashing and growling. "I do what I want! I obey no one! I answer to no one! I will not be bound by consequences. Anyone who tells me otherwise will die!"

"You are hurting the innocent! Forcing hatred on those who only want to live in peace! Why must you start something like this?"

"I want you all dead! I'll kill you! Then I'll kill Naruto and the rest of you filth! You cannot stop me!"

They fell out of the fountain and chased each other across the grass, running into bushes and flowerbeds. Naruto watched them, inhaling the smell of blood on the air. Someone was going to die.

If Ryosuke failed, then Naruto had to be the one to stop Reevo. This couldn't go on.

Reevo threw Ryosuke into the stone steps of the palace. Ryosuke rolled out of the way and threw himself into Reevo's ribs. They chased each other across the pathway to the palace. They ran across the yard and slammed into the gate. Their snarls were getting louder. Blood stained the metal and stone. Ryosuke bit Reevo's shoulder and threw him down onto the grass. Reevo kicked him repeatedly, trying to get him off. He bit Ryosuke's chest and arms. He pushed Ryosuke off of him and before Ryosuke could react, Reevo bit his side.

Naruto heard Ryosuke cry out in pain and saw the attack from where he stood. They chased each other again and disappeared behind a bush. Naruto couldn't stand it anymore and ran down the hill after them. He wanted to help.

Reevo pounced and Ryosuke stepped out of the way. They run up the steps of the palace and Reevo bit Ryosuke's tail, dragging him back. Ryosuke turned around and flipped Reevo over onto his back. He pressed his paws into Reevo's chest, holding him down.

Unable to get up, Reevo could only stare at the kitsune pinning him down. Above them was the palace he called home. The towering walls loomed over them at an angle. The palace he stole from the prince. It was his now. Once he finished with Ryosuke, he would go back inside and ask for something to drink from the many servants he had at his fingertips. He would sit atop his throne and give his many commands and punish anyone who did not obey. This was the life he wanted.

His eyes rolled to the gate. On the other side was a town and beyond that was the mountain. He could see the top of it from where he lay on the steps, cutting into the sky and becoming one with the clouds. The noisy insects, the dark clouds, the wet grass and soft soil. The many animals that lived there, the waterfall that fell into the stream below, and the trees that offered shelter and food. The kitsune that lived there, all banding together and making sure one was never alone. If someone was hurt, they would come. If someone was sad, they would come. If someone was bored, they would come. If someone was hungry, they would come. If someone was happy, they were there, all laughing and smiling together.

How he hated them.

Content in their simplicity. Never wanting more than what they had, Satisfied with just getting by. Happy just being together and never wanting to cause harm to others. Putting a limit on the pranks they performed and never being envious of humans or the lives they led. Reevo could never have that. He never wanted that. He always wanted more. He wanted a life without limits, without consequences. He would do anything to get what he wanted. Even kill.

Reevo turned back to the kitsune holding him down, his green eyes pleading for mercy. Reevo's yellow eyes challenged his and he snarled. "I will never stop." He meant it with every ounce of his being.

Ryosuke knew that. He didn't care who it was, Reevo was going to kill them. With reason or on a whim, he was going to kill them.

Seeing his chance, Reevo kicked Ryosuke off of him and went in for another attack. His teeth closed around Ryosuke's paw as he blocked his throat from the attack. Ryosuke didn't pull away. He forced his paw further into Reevo's mouth, pushing his head and the rest of him back. Once Reevo was on the ground again, Ryosuke moved in for his final attack. He bit down on Reevo's neck and a warm gush of blood came pouring forth. Reevo gurgled and Ryosuke twisted his throat until there was a loud snap, ending the fight.

* * *

The painting on the wall began to rattle and shake. The canvas stretched as if someone were pushing on it from the other side. The image started to move. A human fell from the painting and landed on the carpet in the hallway. The real Prince Akio lifted his head and pushed himself up on his hands. He looked around. The rattling continued. A statue bounced on the wooden table and suddenly transformed into a human. His weight was too much for the small table and he and the table went tumbling down. The prince knew this man. It was one of his servants.

Further down the hall, another object began to rattle and suddenly change shape, transforming into a fox. The fox landed on the ground and another fox fell from the shelf above him and joined him on the floor. The bookcase broke as another object changed back into a maid and took the shelves with her. Another object shook and changed back into the assassin. The assassin jumped back as three foxes came running from another hallway.

The prince sat back and watched as a pack of foxes ran down the hall in a furry stampede moving quickly toward the exit.

"My lord!"

The prince looked up. The maid and servant came from down the hall and rushed to his side. The prince was too weak to stand. His legs weren't working properly. His body felt so stiff and weak.

"What is going on?"

"What happened?"

Before anyone could think of an answer, more servants were starting to flood the halls, hearing a strange ruckus. When they saw the prince on the floor, they all rushed to his aid.

Sai appeared at the end of the hall wondering what all the noise was about. He felt something brush against his leg and looked down. Two small foxes scampered by him, running to catch up with the rest of their friends. "Foxes? What is going on here?"

In the prince's bedroom, the glass flower started to shake and Sakura appeared on the overturned chair, landing on her tailbone. She quickly got to her feet and ran toward the window. She looked from left to right. Her hand touched something wet and sticky. There was blood on the windowsill. She quickly climbed over the broken glass and ran outside.

Out in the yard, Naruto stumbled as his body suddenly changed back into that of a human. Since he was still running at the time of the change, Naruto continued to run on all fours until he finally tripped and rolled down the hill and onto the stone walkway. He rolled into a sitting position and looked down at his hands and feet. He wasn't a fox anymore. He looked up at the sky. It was still nighttime. He looked behind him. No tail. He was human again.

Which must have meant...

"Ryosuke!" Naruto stood on his human legs and ran to the palace steps, following the trail of blood. "Ryosuke! I'm human again. The curse was lifted. I'm back to..."

Naruto stood where he was, looking at Ryosuke leaning over the corpse on the steps. Reevo was dead.

Ryosuke lifted his head and gave Naruto a sad look. His muzzle was dripping in blood.

"Ryosuke..."

The green-eyed fox didn't turn away when Naruto said his name. When Naruto said nothing, he looked down at Reevo's body.

"He wasn't going to stop," Naruto tried to comfort him. "You... had to do it."

Though Ryosuke knew it was the truth, he still didn't look any less bothered by what he had done. "I've never had to kill one of my own before." They hunted animals but never their own kind. Ryosuke never had to kill a kitsune before. This was his first. "I don't like it."

Naruto walked closer and bent down, putting an arm around Ryosuke. "He said he wasn't going to stop. He saw nothing wrong with what he was doing. He was going to kill kitsune and humans. That couldn't happen."

"I know..."

Naruto wasn't sure if this was the right time to bring it up, but he said, "You could have just cursed him. I mean, you can do it now, can't you? Being a two-tails and all."

Ryosuke shook his head. "No. I will never use a curse on someone. I will not do what he did. Ever."

There was no way Ryosuke was going to do anything Reevo did, which included placing a curse on someone. He wasn't going to stoop to his level. Ryosuke knew what it meant. For him to use the same method as Reevo...

Naruto understood his reasoning without him having to explain it.

Naruto stroked Ryosuke's matted and bloody fur. "It's ok. It's ok."

Ryosuke cried, his tears dropping onto Reevo's dead body. "How do you do it?" he asked softly. "Ninja fight in battle all the time. They see death a lot. You even have to kill a person, a fellow human. How do you manage it?"

Ryosuke wasn't asking how to kill a person. He was asking how one dealt with the pain of having to do it.

"Well..." Naruto spoken gently to him as he rubbed his fur. "We were taught that people die all the time doing what we do. Even during our exams, we were told not to die. We were kids at the time. The adults told us that people die during the exams all the time and it was just to see if we were able to survive and see real combat. If we couldn't survive that then we couldn't survive out there on real missions. During the exams we could quit and get out of there. It was safer. I told them that I wasn't going to back down from a fight. That if I couldn't do this, then I would never get stronger."

"So you have to kill to become strong?" Ryosuke asked. "That's the ninja way?"

"No." Naruto stopped rubbing his fur but kept his hand on Ryosuke's back. "It was to show us how hard life could be. That these were the things ninja had to face. And there are some ninja who stray from the path and become rouge ninja. Those ones we have to stop. Reevo was a lot like a rouge ninja. He had to be stopped. The things he did and said were a lot like the rouge ninja I told you about."

Ryosuke continued to cry, sniffling softly which made his shoulder move up and down under Naruto's hand.

"But you know what?" Naruto said to him. "Kakashi-sensei told me that no matter what, we have to protect our friends. Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. He said he would gladly give his life to protect us. That we have to be willing to fight for the sake of our friends and those who rely on us. The ones who believe in us. You have to be willing to do anything to save them."

Ryosuke lifted his head to look at him.

"You didn't want to do it. I know you didn't. He didn't give you a choice. It had to be done. He was never going to stop. He was going to kill everyone, human or kitsune. It didn't matter to him." Naruto held Ryosuke tightly, giving him a one-armed hug. "You did it for the sake of your friends. Just like I would. I would do anything to protect my friends. Even if it means doing something that's very, very hard."

Ryosuke dried his tears and placed his chin on Naruto's knee.

"You're nothing like Reevo. If you were, it wouldn't bother you as much as it is. He was just killing for no real reason other than he could. You did what you did to protect your friends." Naruto scratched Ryosuke behind the ear. "I'm not worried about you at all."

"You spoke before about being the leader of you own village, Naruto," he said. "You even told Reevo that the only way to do that is through hard work. Not taking it from someone else."

"That's right. I did say that. And I meant it."

"But if it's such a heavy burden, why do you want to do it?" he asked. "Why do you want to be the leader? Why are you willing to do such difficult things? Even the things that cause you pain and heartache? Why would you do it?"

Naruto stroked Ryosuke's back. "Because it's all for them. It's for my friends. It's to protect the people that matter to you. Even if it sometimes means doing difficult things. And the people who trust you to watch over them. It's to make the world safe for them." Naruto took his hand off Ryosuke. "Isn't that why you became a two-tails? For them?"

Ryosuke lifted his head and sat up straight. "Yes. I did it to protect them. I did it for them."

Naruto smiled. "See? You're heart's in the right place. All for the sake of your friends. As hard as it was for you, you did it for them."

Ryosuke seemed comforted by Naruto's words. He no longer looked sad. His ears twitched and his head turned toward the gate.

Naruto followed his gaze to the kitsune running up the path toward the palace. Everyone was there. Sonar, Lunabell, Aurora, Sammi, Egao, Superu, Ishi, and Seki, all squeezing through the front gate, calling his name.

"Ryosuke! Are you alright? How's Naruto? Is everything ok?"

Naruto stood and walked with Ryosuke over to the group of kitsune. They were surprised to see Naruto as a human but weren't fearful of him.

"Ryosuke asked where you had run off to and I told him that you were saying something about the palace and the prince," Seki told him. "He ran off and when he didn't come back we got worried."

"We all decided to come and see if he was in any danger," said Sammi.

"We were worried for nothing," chirped Lunabell. "Look! He has two tails now!"

"Well, well, well," chuckled Sonar. "Look who is no longer resisting a change for the better."

Superu looked Ryosuke up and down. "He must have been in one hell of a scuffle. He's all bloody. Ryosuke, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"What the hell happened?"

"Naruto's bloody, too. Were you two guys fighting again?"

"Nothing like that."

Naruto looked away from the group to look at the dead fox on the steps. Reevo was still there. Naruto wondered what would become of him now. He was an enemy but he was still a part of their group. Should he let the staff take care of the body or should he do something about it? Did the other kitsune notice him yet? Maybe he should point it out to them and have them decide what needed to be done next.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted movement. He turned and saw another group of foxes running from around the side of the palace and stand by the fountain. They saw Naruto looking at them and seemed unwilling to move. Naruto wanted to wave to them and let them know he meant no harm. That was when he noticed how quiet it had gotten. The kitsune had stopped chatting.

He looked down and saw the shocked look on Seki's face. He was staring into the crowd of foxes in the yard, his eyes widening looking at one fox in particular. His lower lip trembled. He took two steps forward slowly, then stopped. His eyes were filling with tears.

One of the foxes broke away from the group and bounded toward Seki.

"Reki!" Seki ran forward, wailing. The two met in the middle of the yard and collided in a tearful embrace. "Oh, Reki! Reki! My brother!" They rolled over each other, laughing and crying. Seki licked his younger brother's face and Reki licked him back. They whimpered like ecstatic puppies, their tails swishing back and forth in joy.

Naruto smiled at the happy reunion. "If that's Seki's brother, then those other foxes must be..."

The kitsune reunited with each other, tails wagging and chattering away. Tears were shed, faces were licked. Everyone was so happy to see each other.

The lights in the palace started to flick on, casting square lights in the yard. The kitsune looked frightened and gathered around Ryosuke, recognizing him as their true leader. He had to keep them safe. "Let's go home," Ryosuke told them. The group ran for the gate and squeezed through the bars.

Before following the rest of the group, Seki ran back to Naruto and nuzzled his leg. "Thank you for keeping your promise." Before Naruto could respond, Seki ran alongside his brother and the two left the palace yard.

Around the corner of the palace, Sakura watched as over a dozen foxes fled the grounds through the front gate. Naruto watched them go, the only human in the yard. Glad to see him, Sakura hurried over, calling his name. "Hey, Naruto! Naru..." She slowed her steps, seeing him have a conversation with a fox with two tails. It was the same fox she had seen in the prince's bedroom. She wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying. As she moved closer, the fox took notice of her and stopped speaking. Sakura halted, wondering if she had scared it.

Its green eyes looked straight at her. She wasn't afraid. The look in its eyes was strangely comforting, as if she were staring into the eyes of a guardian spirit. The fox looked back at Naruto, nodded once, then turned away and ran through the bars of the front gate and was off. It moved so quickly. It was out of sight in a matter of seconds.

Sakura stood beside Naruto who was still staring out in the direction the fox had left. "Naruto?"

He turned away and looked her up and down. He smiled. "Sakura. You're ok."

"Yeah." Sakura seemed surprised to see that herself. "So what exactly has been going on? Who was that fox?"

Naruto looked off in the direction of the mountain. "Just a friend."

* * *

There are two chapters left.

Please review! ^-^


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

It was the early hours of the morning, but everyone in the palace was wide wake. The ovens and stoves were on and the cooks were rushing around the kitchen, preparing food for their prince. The servants brought the true prince food as quickly as possible. Having been trapped in that painting for years had given Akio quite an appetite. He was given soup to start with and was told to eat slowly, but the prince was so hungry, he slurped up the soup as quickly as he could and asked for more.

He wasn't the only one given a 3:00am snack. The servant and maid who had also been under a curse were given something to eat as well. They were even allowed to sit at the prince's table with him and the ninja. The assassin was given a meal of his own and the prince ordered the lord and other assassins to be released from their cell at once. They were given a hot bath and a warm place to sleep, far away from the basement.

"So wait a minute. You're the real prince Akio?" Neji asked, holding an ice pack to his head. He had a small bump where Naruto had struck him with the candlestick holder. He didn't seem too upset about that at the moment. He was more concerned about the prince's story. "So all this time, we were working for an imposter?"

"Precisely." The prince finished off his third helping of soup and started to devour a loaf of bread while he waited for more. Akio looked sick compared to the image Reevo had taken on. Reevo had assumed the prince's form when he was healthy. After being trapped in that painting, the prince had grown pale and thin. He was weak from his ordeal and needed help getting around. To help keep him warm, the servants placed a blanket around his shoulders and fed him hot things to eat.

"All this time it was a fox?" Neji was stunned.

"It's true," said Sakura. "I was cursed, too. He turned me into a piece of glass and was going to shatter me. If Naruto and that other fox hadn't been there to help, I would be dead right now."

"So you were aware of everything that was going on around you?" Sai asked Naruto's question before he had a chance to.

"Yeah. It was so strange." Sakura looked like it was an ordeal she would rather not live through again. "I couldn't move or do anything. But I could see and hear everything that was happening. It's like watching a movie, I guess. You can see what's happening on the screen but you can't interfere with anything that goes on. It was scary. And really uncomfortable."

Akio nodded. "From time to time, the fox would come by my painting and taunt me. I wanted so much to escape that hell and put an end to all this. But I couldn't. I couldn't even warn anyone what was happening in the palace. No one knew it wasn't the real me. That was the worst part. No one knew anything was amiss. They never even knew I was gone. That fox was ruining everything and everyone thought it was me. It was awful."

"How did that happen in the first place?" Neji asked.

Akio told them the story. "I was in my private garden one evening and suddenly this fox showed up and turned into me. He was using my image to fool people into thinking he was really me. He said he couldn't have two princes running around and that he knew I would tell everyone so he had to keep me quiet and out of the way. That's when he cursed me. He turned me into a painting and mounted me on the wall. Everyday people I knew passed me by and I couldn't even yell for help. I couldn't move or even make a sound. I wanted to warn them so much but there was nothing I could do."

Sakura nodded sympathetically. She knew exactly how he felt having been cursed herself.

"So a fox was to blame." Sai nodded his head. "I see. So perhaps to prevent this from happening again, we should put and end to those foxes."

"No!" Naruto shouted. "It was just one fox that did it. Not all of them. And that fox cursed a bunch of them as well."

"Besides, one of those foxes helped defeat that fox," said Sakura. "It protected me."

"Those kitsune are my friends!" Naruto blurted out. Since he was no longer cursed, he didn't see a problem with telling them the truth. "When I was cursed, they helped me out. If it hadn't been for the work we did together, we would have never found out that Reevo was pretending to be the prince or where the real one was."

"But if the foxes are a danger..."

"No," said Akio. "The foxes aren't the issue. It was just that one. We cannot condemn all humans because of one doing something evil. Same thing goes for the kitsune. There are good ones among the bad. We can't punish them all."

Akio made a good point. Naruto was starting to like this Akio better than the other one. Plus, this one had yet to flirt with Sakura.

"It's up to you," said Neji. "You are the prince. It's your call."

Akio already knew what his answer was going to be. "The kitsune aren't unreasonable. My parents made deals with them in the past and they are very good about keeping their word. If it hadn't been for that one rouge fox, none of this would have happened. He was pinning everyone against each other. Now that he's gone and I am back in charge, we can get things back to proper working order. I know it will be hard work, but I'm sure everything will return to normal."

"Should we tell the people in town that you were being impersonated?" asked Sakura.

"No. I don't want them to worry," said Akio. "I think it's best if they didn't know. So far, as you said, the people in town didn't have many negative things to say about me. So I see no reason to tell them. I don't want to start a panic."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Neji.

Akio then turned to Naruto. "I would like to thank you, Naruto. You passed by my painting several times. You seemed to know something was amiss. Thank you for uncovering the truth and helping everyone. I'm very grateful."

Naruto chuckled. "Aw, I didn't do that much. It was Ryosuke who took down Reevo and freed everyone."

"I'm grateful to both of you."

This Akio was much better than the fake one. It was still hard to believe that this young man at the table was once a painting mounted on a wall. "And if it weren't for the kitsune training me, I might have never been able to help out as much as I did. When I was a fox, I lost all of my ninja abilities. I was helpless. They showed me how to survive." Naruto looked down at the table. "And how hard their lives were."

Now that the curse was lifted, there were more kitsune than before. There was barely enough food for them as it was.

"Hey, Akio," Naruto said, his face serious. "Those foxes have had it really rough. Not only have half of them been cursed like you, but they've also been starved. When Reevo took your place, he stopped the offerings the foxes relied on every night. He did it to force them to enter the town to find food. I lived as one of them for a week. I saw how hard it was. They have so little food in the mountain and a lot of animals have left the area. Can you please make sure they get their offerings? They really, really need them. They have so little and now that a lot of them have been freed, they have even more mouths to feed. Please don't let them starve. They're only coming into town because they have to. Some humans even attacked them for going through the trash."

"I understand." Akio gave Naruto a sincere smile. "There's no need to worry. I plan on ordering everyone to leave out the offerings from now on. A promise is a promise. And if that Reevo hadn't shown up, it would have never been broken in the first place."

The real Akio was so understanding. He knew how tough things must have been for the kitsune.

Naruto was so relieved. The offerings were going to return. Things were looking up for Ryosuke and the others.

* * *

The following day, the real Prince Akio returned to his royal duties after sleeping in his own bed for most of the morning. Come afternoon, he was well rested and ready to work. The first thing he did was order the people in town to start putting out offerings at night. Because the prince requested it, the people obeyed without question. That is, except for one stubborn old man who demanded to know why they should cater to wild animals. Some people standing by waited for an answer, curious themselves. The prince simply stated that life would get worse for both parties if the offerings were not given. The foxes would continue to raid the trash at night and dig up the farm. If the offerings were laid out at the end of the day, no one, not even the old man, would have to see them in town anymore. The old man liked the sound of that. He didn't want to see the foxes at all.

Akio then told the people that the foxes were good friends of his and with their help, cased evil from the town. He also told them that as long as they were good to the foxes, the foxes would in turn be good to them. Even protect them from harm if need be. The young children were inspired by those words and begged their parents to leave the foxes good offerings that night. Some even wanted to get started right away and started filling bowls with vegetables, which the children didn't want to eat anyway.

"Thanks," Naruto told the prince.

Akio nodded his head in reply. "So you say you were a fox for a time, Naruto? What was it like?"

"They're great," Naruto said honestly. "They're close to each other. Even when they saw I was a human, even though a lot of them were scared of humans, they still accepted me and helped me out. We became really good friends. I'm glad I met them."

Akio smiled. "Maybe one day I will get to meet them, too." He chuckled. "One who will not curse me, at least."

Naruto gave a halfhearted grin.

"My parents were fond of them, I think. Perhaps that is why they made that deal with them. I'm not certain of the details. But I doubt they only helped out of pity or to have peace. I believe there was more to it than that."

Naruto looked at the mountain, thinking about the kitsune and wondering how they were doing.

"Did you know that this land was originally theirs to begin with?" asked Akio.

"Yeah," said Naruto. "They mentioned it to me."

"I wasn't aware of that. My parents told me. Once they took me to the edge of the town and pointed at a small shrine beside the dirt road. It was a wooden box with a stone fox inside. They said that it was proof that this land was once theirs. They even told me that there was an old legend to go along with it."

"Really?" Naruto was interested.

"They told me that long ago, before humans came to settle here, many terrible creatures and spirits used to cause trouble on the land. They would torment the kitsune as well. They were enemies. But there were so many of them and the kitsune couldn't hold them all back for long. Once the creatures were chased off the land, they would return. So the elder kitsune decided to sacrifice himself to keep the land safe. He used his power to banish the wicked creatures and spirits from the land, but in doing so, he used all of his power and was reduced to nothing more than a stone statue. The stone fox in that shrine is a reminder of what he had done to keep this land safe. Afterwords, humans came to this land looking for a safe place to settle. That was why the humans came here to live and one of the many reasons why the kitsune never left. This land was made safe for them by the elder fox of legend."

Naruto remembered that fox statue by the road as they came to the town. Hearing the story made Naruto's heart beat quickly. The very thought of stumbling on the legendary fox protector was...

"Of course, it is just a story," said Akio. "Even my parents weren't sure if it was real or not."

Even so, it was pretty amazing.

"So when will your ninja group be departing?" asked Akio. "I want to give you all a nice meal before you go. Nothing too extravagant, but something to show you how grateful I am and how pleased I am to have you with me. Even if I didn't personally hire you for a mission."

"Actually," said Naruto, "I asked by team if we could stay one extra night. There's something I wanted to do before leaving."

Akio smiled. "Pleased to hear it. I wish to do something as well."

* * *

That evening, as soon as the light disappeared from the sky, Naruto set out one last time to meet the kitsune. He left the palace alone and walked slowly into the town. No one followed him. He wanted it that way. He walked to the edge of town and stood in front of the forest, waiting. Tonight, he wouldn't be going in.

All was quiet. The town was still. The forest was slowly coming to life. Within a few seconds, Naruto could hear the faint buzzing of insects and saw the dim light from the fireflies. They circled the air, gleaming a dull yellow-green, slowly fading in and out of sight as they flew.

Another light from the forest caught his eye. This one was much larger and a different color. Naruto heard the crunching of leaves and the snapping of twigs as someone shuffled from the shadows.

"Hey, Ryosuke."

The two-tailed fox emerged from the forest and stood before Naruto, a faint light glowing around his tails. He smiled when he saw his friend and came forward. "I thought you would have left by now, Naruto."

Naruto shook his head. "No. I convinced my group to stay one more night. We leave in the morning." Naruto looked Ryosuke up and down feeling very proud of him. He looked stronger than he was before. "I just wanted to say good-bye. And check up on you guys."

Ryosuke smiled. "The offerings have returned. There was a lot of food tonight. We found it in the usual spot."

Naruto made sure that the offerings returned. True to his word, the prince ordered everyone to put out food that night. Naruto was a witness. Naruto also witnessed the people leaving the food where the kitsune would find it. He watched the food pile up, growing bigger and bigger with everyone's contribution. What made Naruto most pleased was that after dinner, the prince ordered that all the leftovers be taken and placed with the other offerings. A lot of their food was from the prince's table.

"The real prince gave you food from his table, too. He said that even if people in town don't want to participate, he'll do his part and lead through example. He wants to help, too."

"And help he did," said Ryosuke. "The pack has already started eating. The food amount is so large, we can have our own feast. Even if we all eat our fill, there will be leftovers. He has our thanks."

"Your group's gotten a lot bigger. I'm glad everyone has enough."

"Yes. It's wonderful."

There was so much Naruto wanted to say. This could very well be the last time they saw each other. Naruto had gotten rather fond of them so a part of him didn't want to leave. But, as with Jack, he knew they had to part.

"How is Seki doing? And his brother?"

Ryosuke smiled. "They're both well. They're catching up on lost time. They spend all their time together. I'm happy that they've reunited."

"And what about you?" asked Naruto. "Are you..?"

Ryosuke gave him a proud smile and stood up tall. "I'm their leader. They see me as one, they recognize me as one. I've decided to be their leader. They need me."

"Is this what you want?"

Ryosuke nodded. "I wasn't sure at first. But after speaking with you and doing some hard thinking and observing my fellow kitsune, I've realized something. Being a leader isn't about ruling so much as it is protecting. I know that I have a responsibility and I know it will be difficult. But I am willing to try my best. I will look after them. All of them. My friends are that important to me." Ryosuke winked at Naruto. "All of them."

Naruto smiled back. Ryosuke considered him a friend, even if he was no longer a kitsune.

"And Reevo..." Ryosuke began. He was looking into Naruto's eyes, wanting him to finish for him.

Naruto nodded. "I asked the prince to bury Reevo's body, but only after I get your permission to do so." Reevo was the enemy but he was also one of them. The kistune had the right to decide what to do with his remains.

Ryosuke nodded. "He may have done terrible things, he may have hated us, he may have left us... but I still consider him one of us. I consider you one of us as well, Naruto. To us, you are a part of our pack."

Naruto nodded to him. His words meant a lot. Even Naruto considered himself a part of their group.

"I want Reevo to be buried by the boarder," said Ryosuke. "He was born a kistune and died a kitsune. But he wanted the life of a human. So I think he should be buried on both lands."

Naruto agreed with his decision. "That sounds perfect, Ryosuke."

"Sonar suggested that he be buried close to the stone fox on the hill. It's been years since I've seen it so I didn't know it was still there. I like the idea."

"Oh, yeah!" Naruto remembered something the prince had told him earlier that day. "The prince told me that there was a story about a kitsune that made this land safe by turning himself to stone."

Ryosuke cocked his head. "I've never heard that story before."

"Well, the prince did say it was a legend. Something that happened long before humans showed up and built the town."

"If it's that old then it's no wonder," said Ryosuke. "Legends can change over time. Some are so old that no one knows for sure what had happened. The original story with all the truth and facts about what actually happened become lost. Maybe it did happen. Maybe it didn't. Maybe something did happen but not as the legend says."

Naruto nodded. It made sense. Anyone who was a live to witness what truly happened were long dead by now. Naruto had actually wondered if the statue was someone under a curse. If that were the case, then the kitsune that cured them was still alive. But that was impossible. According to Ryosuke and the other kitsune, their ancestors were all dead. If it were Reeve who cursed them, then they would have changed back like the others when he was defeated. It couldn't have been a fox curse. Maybe there was a story to go with the statue. Or maybe it was just a simple statue and there was nothing more to it than that. Someone could have made the legend up for all he knew.

Come to think of it, there was something Naruto wasn't sure about. He had a question he wanted to ask Ryosuke before they departed.

"Say, Ryosuke... I wanted to ask you something I'm not clear on."

"Yes?"

"You guys told me that if anyone found out about the curse, then they would get cursed, too. But Sakura was hiding in the ceiling and heard everything. She must have known I was the other kitsune in the room. In fact, I know she knew. But she didn't get cursed. Well, not until Reevo did something about it. Was it that she was going to get cursed but Reevo got to her before it could happen or what? I'm confused. I thought a person got cursed once they knew what was going on."

"Oh. That." Ryosuke chuckled softly. "Yeah. We lied."

Naruto stared at Ryosuke. "Eh?!"

"Yeah. A person doesn't actually get cursed from just finding out about the curse. Sorry."

Being tricked wasn't something Naruto enjoyed. "Why would you do that?!" he demanded angrily.

"To protect you."

"Huh?" He was so confused.

Ryosuke explained. "We were worried that if you told someone about what was going on, Reevo would overhear and do something about it. He could have been in the same room as you. Or even worse, be one of the people you informed. Since we didn't know who he had transformed into, it was entirely possible."

He was right. They didn't know who Reevo was. No one knew. If Naruto had told his friends about the curse, they may have told the prince, who was really Reevo. If they had done that...

"You're right. Since we had no idea he was the prince, we would have told him and then everyone would have gotten cursed," said Naruto. "So that's why you lied? So there was no risk of me telling anyone who might have been Reevo or someone who might have told Reevo?"

"Yes. It was to keep you and your friends safe."

"Even though we had just met and you didn't know my friends? You still wanted to protect them?"

Ryosuke nodded. "We're not vindictive. Most of us are caring. Sure, a lot of us fear humans and try to avoid them, but that doesn't mean we wish harm on you. And though I do not personally know your friends, you do. They are as important to you as my kitsune are to me." Ryosuke grinned a foxy grin. "Besides, we look out for each other. You helped us so it's only right that I return the favor."

"Yeah, but that the time you told me, I hadn't done anyone for you yet."

"Does it matter?"

Naruto smiled. "I guess not."

"And you were the first person we saw who wasn't an object. You could actually speak. You were turning into one of us. Since you could speak, we couldn't risk it. We had to tell you that lie. Besides, even if just knowing about the curse wasn't going to give someone else a curse, the danger was there and it could have led to more curses through events. So even if there wasn't a curse initially, it could have led to one."

"I see what you mean." Naruto wasn't angry that they lied to him. Even if they did tell him the real reasons for not talking about the curse, he knew he would and told his friends anyway if they badgered him about it. Even if he made them swear to keep it a secret, they may not have believed him and talk about it. They might have told the prince, trying to keep him safe and not know who he really was. Ryosuke was right to lie to him. "Thanks."

Ryosuke nodded his head.

"The prince said he would like to meet you one day."

"Really?" said Ryosuke, sounding amused. "I would think after everything that's happened that he would want to avoid kitsune. Even have a strong disliking of them."

"No. He knows it was just one kitsune and that he shouldn't represent the whole population. He knows that you guys were hurt just as much by him. And that you and I helped rescue him from his curse. He wanted to make things right with you. And to thank you. He said that if you guys ever have a problem or a comment, to come see him and he'll do his best to take care of it."

"But last night was my first time going into the palace. I never go near it. I followed you there and tracked your scent and saw the open door in the yard. If it hadn't been under those circumstances, I don't think I would have ever gone there."

"The prince sees this land as much yours as it is his. You share it. So he wants to make sure everyone lives here in peace."

Ryosuke seemed to be thinking it over. "Ok, I'll consider it. If he's offering."

"He does like you guys." Akio was an animal lover, alright. After speaking with him, Naruto knew the land and the kistune were in good hands. Akio was going to make sure of that.

The sky was a deep blue and there were thousands of stars sprinkled over their heads. It was getting later by the minute.

"I guess this is good-bye, Naruto."

Naruto looked into the eyes of his mentor and friend. Out of all the kitsune, Ryosuke was the first he made friends with. He was the first one to trust Naruto and vouch for him. He urged the other kitsune to not fear him. Ryosuke called him a friend. He offered to train him. It was because of his training that Naruto learned so much. Not just how to use fox magic but how to be a kitsune living in the mountains. He owed Ryosuke so much. They had become good friends. Ryosuke had matured so much during this week, even though it was Naruto who was supposed to grow.

In truth, they both had. They each grew before the other's eyes.

"Oh, I have something for you." Naruto reached into his pocket and took out a peach and held it out for Ryosuke to take. "Here. This is a part of my contribution. I put some food in the offerings, too, but I wanted you to have this piece."

Ryosuke stepped forward and took the peach from Naruto's hand. He dropped it on the ground so that he could speak. "Thanks."

"Sure thing."

A long silence passed.

"We'll be gone in the morning."

Ryosuke nodded. "You said so."

Naruto looked into the forest behind Ryosuke. "I didn't want to leave without saying good-bye to you. To all of you."

Ryosuke looked back at the forest then faced Naruto. "They will not be coming. I will give them the message."

Naruto frowned. "Can't I see them? I wanted to do it in person."

Ryosuke shook his head. "It is just you and me. Tonight, as their leader, I represent the whole group."

If Naruto had know that would have been the last time he would see all the kistune, he would have said his good-byes at the gate rather than watch them run off. At least Seki got to thank him before leaving.

Those kitsune meant so much to him. He had so much he wanted to thank them for. He wanted to say good-bye to all of them. He wanted to see them one last time and have a proper farewell.

Naruto dropped to his knees and put his arms around Ryosuke in a heartfelt embrace. Ryosuke rested his chin on Naruto's shoulder and put his paw around his waist, returning the hug.

Naruto said his good-bye to all the kitsune through Ryosuke.

"Thanks for the training. And for the help. And for believing in me and for being my friends. Thanks for the trust and for helping me out and taking such good care of me. Thanks for letting me be a part of your world and for showing me the way. Thanks for protecting me and my friends. I'm going to miss you all."

"And I will miss you." Ryosuke licked Naruto's cheek and nuzzled his face.

They separated.

"Thanks for everything, Ryosuke."

Ryosuke grinned but it looked more melancholy than it did happy. He grinned as if his thanks was misplaced, or that it was foolish to think that he needed to thank him for anything.

"It is I who should be thanking you, Naruto," he said.

Naruto had done just as much if not more for Ryosuke and the kitsune than they had for him.

"Good-bye, you friend."

With that, Ryosuke picked up the peach in his teeth and turned away, running into the forest and out of sight.

Naruto listened to the brush and the snapping to twigs as Ryosuke left. He stood there quietly, listening until there was nothing left to hear. He watched the forest for several minutes before sighing and turned away.

He felt so alone. A part of him hoped the kitsune would come rushing out of the forest but they never did. Naruto looked at the dark homes in the town and up at the palace on the hill fenced in by the large gate. From this distance it seemed so small. Almost lonely. Yet comforting. Though the dark, quiet town did nothing to ease his loneliness. He always hated saying good-bye to friends. He hated watching them leave. It always left him feeling alone and wondering what he should do now.

As he took his first step back towards the palace through the town, he stopped, hearing something. It wasn't the rustling to leaves or the snapping of twigs. It wasn't footsteps. It was like a breeze. A very faint noise was carried with it.

It wasn't a breeze at all. It was a call.

"Narutooooooo..."

He slowly turned around. There was nothing in the forest.

"Narutooooooo...!"

Very slowly, Naruto lifted his head and faced the mountain.

From up on the cliff was Ryosuke, howling his name by the top of the waterfall. He was joined by the dozens of other kitsune, all calling out his name as loudly as they could.

"Narutooooooo!" He could hear them more clearly now. They were all shouting at once from the mountain. "Narutooooo!"

Naruto had howled his name like that his very first night as a kitsune. They confessed that foxes can howl though they don't do it very often. Naruto had a feeling this was their salute to him. This was their way of saying farewell. This was their good-bye.

"Thanks for everything!" he could hear them shout from the cliff. It was faint, but he heard it. "We'll miss you! Don't forget us! We're glad we met you! Bye, Naruto!"

Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up to them as loud as he could. "Bye, you guys! I'll miss you!"

They cheered for him. They shouted more things down to hit but it was lost in all the chatter.

"Bye!" Naruto yelled up to the cliff. "Good-bye, everyone! Bye!"

From behind him, a window opened and a frying pan hit him in the back of the head. "Shut up with all that damn racket!" yelled the old man and slammed his window shut angrily.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and aimed the frying pan at the closed window. Then he thought better of it and left it on the ground. He was screaming up to a mountain in the middle of the night. He sort of deserved it.

When he looked back at the mountain, the kitsune were gone from sight.

Naruto didn't mind. He got to say good-bye to all of them. He was satisfied with this. He didn't feel lonely anymore, either. They were with him even when he couldn't see them. They were there, watching him. Calling to him. Letting him know how much he meant to them, how grateful they were to him and how happy they were to be his friends. He accepted their good-bye.

No matter what, he would always remember them.

* * *

One chapter left to go.

Please review! ^-^


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

The following morning, Naruto and his team left the palace with the prince wishing them a safe journey from his front steps.

The lord and the assassins left the palace the day before. Still suspicious, Neji and the others watched them closely, hoping they wouldn't try to harm the real prince. They did not and the lord appeared to be on good terms with the prince once again. Akio promised to right every wrong the kitsune had done in his place and ordered his servants to help provide the lord with a wagon full of supplies that should have been traded and never were thanks to Reevo. Akio said that this was a token of his apologies and and showing of how much he intended to truly pay them back. The lord left happy and told Prince Akio that there were no hard feelings and that it wasn't his fault. They hadn't heard from them since.

Akio saw them off and thanked them once again for their help in uncovering the truth and defeating Reevo. Naruto and the others said their good-byes and left the palace feeling successful.

"Well, this wasn't the mission I expected but I think it went pretty well," said Sakura. "It was certainly interesting."

"Interesting isn't the first word that comes to my mind," said Neji. "By the way, Naruto, why didn't you tell us about the curse in the first place? We would have helped you."

"Because Ryosuke and the other kitsune told me that anyone who learns about the curse gets cursed as well. I didn't want you guys to suffer, too. Plus, there was no way of knowing what you would turn into. You guys might not have been foxes."

"True."

"Odd how that one fox cursed you into being a fox in order to hinder you," said Sai. "I wouldn't have expected that. It doesn't seem like much of a handicap to me."

"According to Reevo, he never expected to turn me into a kitsune. He said he wasn't sure why it happened or why it took me so long to change." Naruto had his suspicions that the nine-tailed fox had somehow protected him. Perhaps it was his chakra that slowed the transformation down so much so it took Naruto a few minutes to change whereas it took humans and foxes mere seconds. Maybe his transformation was, in a way, predestined because of the fox. Maybe because Naruto was already pretty fox-like, the transformation took on such a form. In a way, some of the cursed objects resembled the person they were of to some extent. Sakura was a lotus flower. There were a few connections with that transformation. The prince being a portrait of himself was another example.

Naruto looked off in the direction of the mountain. He half expected to see Ryosuke and the others to be standing there like they were last night. Though he couldn't see them, he knew they were there.

On the edge of the forest were traces of leftover food from last night's offerings. Some crushed grapes and a pear lay on the ground under a tree. Naruto felt comfortable leaving the town seeing evidence that the offerings were going to continue.

"So the enemy kitsune never intended to turn you into a kitsune?" asked Sakura.

Naruto turned back. "No. He said he didn't and didn't know why it happened that way."

"You don't think it could be because of... you-know-what, do you?" she whispered.

"You mean the Nine-Tails? I guess so. Maybe. I was thinking that, too." Naruto scratched an itch on his stomach. "He's been pretty quiet all this time. I thought being a fox might trigger something to happen. Not to the seal or anything. Just get his attention or something. But it's over now so who cares?"

"Weren't you worried about something happening?"

"Not really. Actually, the first night, I kind of thought it was a dream and went with it. I guess I should have panicked more." Naruto shrugged. "I was more concerned about other things to be honest. Like you guys."

"You seemed most concerned about the fake prince hitting on Sakura," said Neji.

Sakura put her hands on her hips, smirking. "That's true. It was pathetic."

"Hey, I sensed there was something bad about the guy. The things he was saying to you was so cheap and stupid. I thought he was going to start saying some really lame lines like you were an angel fallen from heaven or something stupid like that."

"So were you jealous because someone was hitting on Sakura," asked Sai, "or was it because you sensed the prince was an evil fox?"

That was a good question. Even Neji slowed his walk to hear the answer. Sakura looked at Naruto expectantly.

Naruto gave it some thought. It was true that he did get jealous when men hit on Sakura, but he was more verbal about it when he was younger and had a crush on her. He still had feelings for her but not as strongly as before. Now that he thought about it, he didn't think he was actually in love with her. Sakura was just a good friend and teammate who cared about him. Honestly, he would have loved a date with her, but if another girl asked him he would jump at the chance. He just wanted someone to love him. He was close to Sakura. He had a crush on her when he was younger. Did he still have a crush on her?

"Well..." he drawled.

Sai was waiting for an answer. So was Sakura.

"I think it's because I sensed he was a bad guy. There's no way I would let Sakura date a guy like that. Totally fake."

"What do you mean you wouldn't let me?" Sakura growled.

Naruto flinched. "I- I didn't mean..!"

"He wasn't your type," Neji said quickly. "Shall we press on?"

Sakura didn't punch him. Listening to Neji, she turned around and continued to walk. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, I sensed the guy was someone to be watched from the beginning," Sakura muttered. "I didn't fall for his cheap lines for one second."

Sai walked closer to Naruto as they left the town. "I thought you had feelings for her. You show all the signs I've read about. And she seems to care about you," he whispered.

"I used to have a crush on her," Naruto whispered back.

"Used to? So you don't anymore?"

"Uh, well..." He wasn't sure. "Not as big a one, I guess. But if she wanted to be my girlfriend, I wouldn't say no. Not if she meant it."

"So it was because you sensed that the prince was a fake and not because of any personal feelings. I see."

"I guess it is." Naruto didn't like the fake prince to begin with. He was angry and found fault in just about everything he did. What started it was him flirting with Sakura the moment he met her. Maybe part of it was jealousy. Maybe it was because after that Naruto started to keep a close eye on him and notice everything he did. The fake prince was false. He wasn't being sincere. Naruto hated people who were false.

Sai frowned. "I'm confused." He looked back at Naruto. "You say you had a crush on her. But you also said that if she wanted to go out with you, you would agree if she meant it and it wasn't out of pity. But you also said that you would jump at the chance to date any girl who asked you out."

"Your point being?"

"If you want any girl, does that make you desperate or a pimp?"

Naruto's eye twitched. "Sai!" he barked.

"What? And my other question was if that's the case and all..."

"It's complicated! Ok?"

"I'm just trying to understand, Naruto."

Did Sai have to be this clueless? Then again, even Naruto was confused about his feelings and what they were. "Look," he sighed. "It doesn't matter. Sakura already likes Sasuke. If she loves him, there's no way she would go out with me and have feelings about it."

"So you do want her to date you but only if she means it?"

"Yeah." Naruto didn't want Sakura to give up Sasuke to be with him if her heart wasn't in it. He wanted her to love him if her heart allowed it. Since she didn't have feelings for him in that way, they would simply be friends. Naruto was happy with that. "Sakura and I are dear friends. So of course I care about her. Of course I would feel protective of her. And because I care about her, I don't want to see her end up with a rotten guy she'll never really care about. Or with a guy who's a total player. Since that fake prince started hitting on her, I knew he wasn't right for her and didn't mean anything he said. I mean, a guy who starts asking a girl out right out of the gate like that? He didn't mean it and I didn't want to see her get in a bad way because of it."

"So... you were jealous because you care and not because you love her?"

This was very hard to explain. In some ways, Sai was like a child. "There are different kinds of love, Sai. I love her in the way I love all my friends. Alright? I care about them and don't want anything bad to happen to them."

Sai seemed to accept that. "Oh, ok. I think I understand."

"Good. Can we drop it now?"

"Just one more question. It was the one I wanted to ask before you cut me off." For this question, Sai did not bother to whisper. "If that's the case and how you feel... after everything you just told me... then why is it when someone asks if you two are dating, you never correct them? You always say she is your girlfriend."

"Uh..."

Sakura was staring at him, frowning.

Naruto was afraid to answer.

Sakura did that for him and he wasn't overly fond of what she had to say. "Because Naruto is a hot-blooded male who can't stand to be alone. So to be a big shot, he tells everybody that we're going out even though we're not. It's just so he comes across like 'the man' to impress people."

"Oh!" Sai said, slamming his fist into his open palm. "So it is because he's desperate and lonely."

"Do we have to keep this conversation going?!" Naruto yelled. "What is the point? What does this have to do with anything? Random!"

Sakura started laughing.

"It's not funny!" Naruto whined.

"These relationships are hard to understand. They're so complicated." Sai thought of a new question. "So if-"

"Shut up!" Naruto snapped at him. Then he lowered his voice. "Look, Sai, I'll keep it simple for you. All guys want someone to love them. I want a girlfriend just like everyone else. Since I've known Sakura a long time and like her and everything, I figured she would be a good girlfriend for me. But we're just friends. If there's another girl out there who cares for me and wants to date me, I'm all for it. So far, no one has even hinted that they love me enough to want to be my girlfriend."

"I see," Sai said in an understanding tone. "So we must simply find a girl out there who loves you. Then you will go on a date with her. Is that right?"

"Yes!" Finally Sai understood and would drop the subject.

"Since Sakura, though a friend, does not love you like that, you simply have to find another girl who does."

"That's what I'm saying." Naruto hoped Sai would stop asking him questions now.

"If only there were someone in our circle of friends who did have feelings of love for you. That would be convenient."

"Yeah," Naruto scoffed. "Too bad no girl has even hinted that she had feelings for me. Otherwise, I would be willing to date her. Oh, well."

Leading the group, Neji paused for a moment to mentally slap his forehead. He hung his head and grumbled to himself, as he thought of his cousin and the Naruto doll she sewed and kept in her room. "I'm surrounded by idiots..."

Sai looked behind him and then back at Naruto. "Say, Naruto..."

"Sai, I'm gonna beat you!"

"I'll settle this right now," Neji said over his shoulder. "Naruto sensed that the fake was bad news from the start, like he said, and he feels protective of his friends. That's why he reacted the way that he did. Not to mention he was jealous of the treatment she was being given. And if I may toss my observation into the matter, I think Naruto's jealousy was also brought on by the idea that he finds it unfair that one person is being shown affection when he is receiving none. Now can we drop it?"

There was some truth to that. Naruto often got jealous when Sakura was giving someone a lot of affection and gave him none. If he had someone showing him some love, too, he wouldn't have felt so jealous. It was also common for him to feel jealous when anyone was given all the attention and he received none.

"No, this is something else." Sai looked back at the town at the bottom of the hill. "I was going to ask about your kitsune friends and how it was to be one."

This Naruto was happy to talk about. "It was great!" he started. He began to tell Sai all about the things he learned and how some of his ninja skills had gotten stronger because of them.

As the group started to pass the edge of the prince's land, Naruto asked to make a quick stop into the tall grass. He wanted to see the shrine. Even if the legend the prince told was just a story, even if it wasn't true, Naruto still wanted to pay his respects.

Naruto went straight to the shrine and bent down to look inside. He smiled at the fox inside, wondering if it could see him. He reached out and pat the stone fox on the head. "Thanks for guarding this place."

Naruto's finger brushed against a rough spot behind its head. It wasn't just some random marking from being weathered. There was a pattern to it. Curious, Naruto reached into the shrine and pulled the stone fox out inch by inch. He turned it around. There on the back of its head, between its two ears, was an artist's name carved in the stone. It was dated below the signature, going back fifty years.

It was a fake. This was no kitsune. This was some artist's work, used as a decoration in a wooden shrine.

Naruto felt disappointed as he slid the statue back into place. The legend wasn't true after all. "Oh, well. I really wanted that story to be true."

That's when he noticed something else in front of the shrine, covered by grass and moss. He brushed them aside and tried to scrape off the moss with his fingernails. It was a small plaque. In tiny writing, it read:

I dedicate this statue to the kitsune who saved my life and drove out the evil lurking in the dark. May it always be a reminder of whose land this truly is and may we share it and live in peace.

Naruto sat back staring at the faded words carved on the smooth surface.

"Maybe the legend wasn't completely wrong. Even Ryosuke said that stories change over years. They may have the same theme and idea, but the details are different every time."

Something must have happened in the past involving the kitsune and the humans. The plaque mentioned an evil in the darkness being driven out. Naruto felt like there was a new mystery he needed to solve.

"Are you coming?" he heard Sakura calling him.

"I'm coming!" Naruto stood up and left the shrine feeling curious. He wondered what happened all those years ago.

When he made it back to the road, his friends led the way down the dirt road.

Before following them, Naruto gave the mountain one final look. The towering cliff looked so empty without a crowd of kitsune calling down to him.

Neji, Sai and Sakura stopped, noticing that Naruto wasn't following. He was standing on the top of the hill, facing the mountain. Before they could ask what he was doing, they saw him cup his hands around his mouth and howl his name toward the mountain.

"Narutoooooooo!"

His voice traveled over the town and into the sky, coming back in a faded echo.

"Why did you do that?" Neji asked him, looking a little annoyed.

Naruto shrugged, still facing the mountain. "Just had the urge."

"Now that it's out of your system, can we go?"

Naruto turned away with a nod. "Yeah. We can go."

They started walking again. One by one, they entered the forest, cloaked in the shade of the trees. As Naruto started to follow, he felt the wind on his back. Carried with it was his earlier howl, echoed faintly by another's voice.

"...rutooooo..."

They heard him. _He_ responded.

Naruto's face broke into a bittersweet smile.

Now he could go home.

He followed his friends into the forest and back to the Hidden Leaf.

* * *

The end!

Just to let you know, there will be a sequel. Fox Fire 2 will be coming out, and the Nine-Tailed fox will make an appearance. I couldn't find a place for him in this one that didn't seem tacked on. So he will be in the second.

The next one will have more action and a lot more problems for Naruto. And yes, he will regain his kitsune powers. So think of this as an introduction, because he had to learn all his kitsune powers. Reevo was mostly Ryosuke's fight, but in the next one, Naruto will have his own battles.

I can't give away too much, but I hope you guys will read it.

Thank you all for reading and please review! Thanks! ^-^


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